Tilting the Hourglass
by le.etoile
Summary: -"You stole my heart, but I left it with you... Hm... Now that doesn't make sense." Series of new/old IchiHime drabbles; ratings may vary.
1. My Heart Belongs to You

_I posted these a while ago, then deleted them, and now I'm reposting them again. :/ These are for drabbles that are longer than 100 words (thus aren't part of my Embers and Envelopes series.) So if these look familiar, they should. XD Cuz they are/were older... I might post some drabbles as well. :/ We'll see._

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Things were never the same. With what happened, it was no surprise. I looked at her all the time now, and something about her was different. I couldn't say what it was, but I could just tell. It was as if she'd gotten broken somewhere along the way. Maybe Grimmjow was right when he told me that maybe something happened to her 'inside'.

After a while, I started thinking that it was her heart that had taken away. Possibly broken. I knew this all because her smiles weren't there anymore.

Her eyes shone, but they didn't show emotion.

Her hair glistened in the sun, but it had a weak, flimsy look to it. It no longer curved around her porcelain cheeks, and flowed down her shoulders and back, like water.

Her skin was untouchable. I was afraid if I reached out to grab her, she'd shatter into a million pieces. Just like her heart.

But, in my eyes, this didn't make her look any less heavenly.

_Broken things are beautiful, _I always thought bitterly. I despised myself for thinking such a thing. Instead of just gazing at her shattered form, why wasn't I trying to fix it? I'd be able to see her radiating smiles all the time, which gave me relief in my heart.

Heart…

"Inoue, where is you heart?" I asked her quietly. She just looked at me with expressionless eyes and a small, forced smile on her face.

"I left it with the one I love…" She explained weakly, her gaze returning to the floor.

"And who's that?" I inquired. I'd definitely beat up the bastard who took her heart away. All because of him, she never smiled. She never laughed. She never loved the same.

Her face fell once more and her pale cheeks now sported a faint shade of pink. She opened her mouth to speak, and silently spoke her answer.

"You."


	2. Bubblicious Wife

_The prompt for this one was **bubbles**. XD_

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"Hime, I'm home!" Ichigo Kurosaki yelled out into the small apartment, alerting his wife of his arrival. "Hime?"

No response.

His brows furrowed as he set down his briefcase and started to undo his tie. _'This isn't right… Normally she comes running to the door when I get home.' _As he undid the necktie, he was left in silence, wondering where his beloved could've gone.

But then he heard muffled yelling.

"Hime?" Ichigo asked out loud once more, starting to wander the halls of their flat. "Hime, where are you?" It wasn't until he got to the bathroom that the voice was loudest. He knocked on the door. "Orihime, you in there?"

"I-Ichi-kun, help!" Was the response he received, which quickly raised his heart rate. He frantically swung open the door, his mind racing at the many horrifying predicaments his wife could be in.

He found bubbles. Lots and lots of bubbles.

"What the… Hell??" He spoke to no one, swatting away the soapy orbs quickly enclosing in on him. "Hime??"

"I-Ichi-kun…" Orihime's melodious voice rang out with relief. "I-I added too much bubble bath, and closed my eyes for a few minutes, and when I opened them back up, there was bubbles all over the place!"

"So what do you need help with? Cleaning this up, or…" He groaned, still batting away bubbles.

She hesitated for a moment. "C-Can you come find me? I don't know how to get out…" Ichigo rose an eyebrow, as his mind clicked together. His lips curled up into a devilish smirk as he thought about his voluptuous wife in a tub full of bubbles. And she wanted his help.

'_Oh, I'll give her help…'_


	3. To be Timeless Forever

**_prompt._**_ clock_

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His gaze flashed over to the clock on the wall, his heart rate increased significantly. _'What's taking them so fucking long??' _Ichigo managed to look at everyone else around the waiting room, and saw they all had the same, downcast gaze he did. Empty stares with heavy hearts.

"Ichigo…" Rukia's small voice spoke out, her body tensing up as she talked. "I'm sorry…" He looked at her sternly, putting up a front.

"Don't be sorry… Inoue wouldn't want that…" He spoke, his heart hammering against his chest as he said her name. _'Inoue…'_

Ichigo's feelings were torn up as he sat in the waiting room of the Division 4 barracks. Orihime had gotten seriously hurt as she was stuck in the middle of the fight between Ichigo and Gin. He curled his hand into a fist as he replayed the image of her being stabbed by Gin's Shinso, right in the middle of her chest. _'Why didn't I protect her??'_

He glanced back up to the clock once more before seeing Captain Unohana come through the doors, a somber look etched on her face. Ichigo's heart dropped at her expression.

"I-Is she all right?" He spoke, swallowing thickly, as he feared the worst. "Inoue's okay, right?" The others just stared at the healer and the substitute shinigami towering over her, also wanting to hear her current status.

Unohana looked at him for a few moments before a small smile curved onto her lips.

"She'll be fine… She needs her rest though, so I recommend you all go home for now. Waiting her won't help her," she spoke calmly, as a collective sigh of relief spread through the room. "You, however…" Unohana looked back up to Ichigo, his relief quickly dissipating upon hearing her new words. "I'd like you to stay here."

"Huh?"

"I'm saying, I'm sure Inoue Orihime would appreciate your company during her recovery," she resumed, turning around and heading back through the doors, motioning for him to follow, which he quickly did. Ichigo's palms grew sweaty as he thought of how his precious nakama would look like, or how she would appear. He only kept thinking of how red her blood looked, and how quickly it stained her white clothes. It reminded him of rubies. Ichigo shuddered at the horrid memory, when Unohana gestured him to her room, allowing him to go in. He stepped into the quiet room, and looked at his friend.

She was beautiful.

Despite her frail exterior, pale skin, and somewhat faded auburn hair, her sleeping form suddenly looked heavenly to the bright-haired teen. Ichigo heard the door close behind him as he quickly took a seat next to her bed, taking in her dulled, but radiant sight.

"Inoue…" Ichigo's voice spoke out, barely above a whisper. "I'm…' _'Sorry…' _ He mentally finished, as he recalled telling Rukia earlier, that Inoue wouldn't want anyone to apologize; this included him. He kept his gaze on her, again feeling that relief from earlier. She was okay, and she wasn't a bloody mess like she previously was. _'Inoue's okay…'_

"K-Kuro…saki-kun?" Her small, weak voice called out. His eyes snapped up to her face, and saw she was trying to keep her eyes open. "Hello…" Orihime gave him a frail smile, and her previously pale skin was now accompanied by a light blush. Ichigo gave her a small smile in return.

"Hey Inoue… You're going to be okay…" He told her in a gentle voice, trying not to worry her with his self-anger and worry. Of course he was worried sick about his nakama, but now was not the time to show it. She continued to give him a small smile, before wincing a bit out of the blue.

"A-Ah, it hurts a bit…" she muttered, wanting to bring her hand to her wound, but was too weak to do so. He frowned upon hearing that, and felt another wave of guilt. "But don't worry…" She smiled bigger, reassuring him. "I'll be better soon." Despite feeling incredibly at fault of what had happened, he gave her another smile.

"Yup… You will… But get some rest in the mean time," he told he reassuringly, putting his hand lightly on hers in the process. "I'll be here to make sure nothing happens…" Orihime's eyes grew soft and slowly adjusted her own hand, to hold his.

"Thank you… Kurosaki-kun," she whispered, giving his hand a small squeeze. "Thank you…" Her eyes fluttered closed, as she knew she would be safe with him there.


	4. Down the Stairs We Go

_Idea came from one of Jam's pics. :D_

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"Kurosaki-kun, I'm really sorry," Orihime muttered to her tall, orange-haired friend that was leaning onto her for support. She tried to hide her slowly creeping blush, but it was to no avail.

"It's fine Inoue. As long as you're not hurt, I'm alright," Ichigo assured her, as he limped. She blushed at his statement, but still felt bad about what had previously happened.

Orihime had been talking to Tatsuki, and hadn't noticed the upcoming flight of stairs. It had been too late to tell her to watch out, and she missed the top step, resulting in her falling down the entire flight. If it hadn't been for her Shinigami savior, she would've been the one with a bad ankle.

Ichigo had caught her when she fell, but resulted in a questionably swollen ankle. She had been embarrassed, and secretly happy, to be in her crush's arms, but was quickly horrified that she had hurt him in the process.

Thus leading to the events happening now. Orihime had taken, or rather, forced Ichigo to go to the nurse's office, despite his protests, and she had offered her small shoulder to help him down there. Again, he protested, but he quickly gave in when he saw her sad face at his rejection.

Silence swept over the two bright-haired teens as they stumbled down the hallway, one step at a time. "Kurosaki-kun… I'm really am sorry…" She quietly apologized again. "I wish I wasn't so clumsy." He rolled his eyes and sighed lightly.

"Inoue, I told you, it's okay. It was an accident," he tried reassuring her once more. Her small body shifted a bit under his large arm and shoulder, and her hand that clung to his side, the grasp got a bit tighter. His face began to get a bit hot as he noted the sudden squeeze to his side. Sure, he questioned it, but he couldn't help but feel that he liked the feeling of her small, fragile body next to his. He mentally slapped himself for thinking such a thing.

"Ah, we're here already, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime spoke quietly, suddenly giving him a bright smile. He jumped a bit at her sudden change in mood, but he couldn't help but smile as well.

"Y-Yeah, right," he responded, for some reason, stuttered as he spoke. He mentally hit himself again for doing that.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" She asked out loud into the seemingly quiet room. No one answered. "Nurse-san must have stepped out for a moment. In the mean time, we should get you sitting down." Her voice told him sincerely, while she helped him hobble over to the nearest bed.

"Wouldn't it be better to sit in a chair?" Ichigo asked awkwardly as he noticed the direction they were going. His mind was straying to odd thoughts that involved him, Orihime, and the bed. Now he definitely wanted to crawl into a hole because of those thoughts. Those there things his hollow should be thinking, not him! A dark blush crawled up his face at his indecent ideas.

"You hurt your ankle though! It's best to put it up!" She pouted lightly as she spoke. He just nodded, not wanting to fight the innocent girl. She helped him gently onto the bed and he propped his foot up, with her help. She pulled the shade around the bed. As his head lay on the pillow, a thought, more decent than his recent ones, arose in his head.

"Why don't you just heal my ankle with your Shun Shun Rikka? I mean, if you don't mind, that is," he inquired, scratching his cheek lightly. Her eyebrows raised, her mouth formed into an 'O' shape, and her cheeks started to flush.

"I-I'm sorry Kurosaki-kun, I didn't even think about it…" She apologized once, and looked at the ground. "Soten Kisshun," was the incantation she mumbled and two of her guardians flew from their respective hairpins, and formed a shield over his ankle. "I shouldn't be so stupid…"

Again, he sighed lightly. "Inoue, you're not stupid. Even I didn't think about it at first," he tried explaining to her. He was starting to lose focus. The way her reiatsu was, it made as if he was just lying in the sun, relaxing. He knew he liked the feeling, but he didn't like how it made him feel _too_ relaxed. Soon, the throbbing pain in his ankle soon vanished.

"Thanks Inoue, I suppose we should get back to clas-" He spoke to her, starting to get back up, but was cut off short by her small hand on his shoulder, pushing him back down. She looked at him with determination in her eyes. "Inoue…?" He questioned her once more, but she silently put her finger onto his lips. The creeping blush threatened him once more. He looked at her intently, and found that her eyes no longer holding just determination. They held pain and sadness, and he felt an odd sense of hurt in his heart at the sight.

She slowly climbed on top of him, with a leg on each of his sides. While her legs straddled his waist, her hands were lightly placed on his chiseled shoulders. She felt her heart racing faster and faster with each passing moment, and his did the same.

"Kurosaki-kun," her voice broke the silence. It was filled with bitter pain, and depression. "W-What am I supposed to do…?" Tears tugged at her eyes, threatening to spill.

"W-What?" Was all he could mutter. His brain was still trying to process what she was physically doing. It was Orihime Inoue, he thought. There's no way such a gentle, fragile girl would be so bold as to do such an action.

She smiled a small, hurtful smile. "I-I love Kurosaki-kun so much… But it hurts so much as well. I don't know what to do…" She still tried to smile for him, but now tears fell from her eyes, and dropped onto his face. He felt an odd sense of déjà vu.

"Inoue…" His heart raced faster as he now comprehended her confession. She bit her lip to prevent making any unnecessary sounds from her crying. She cried silent tears, and Ichigo was trying his hardest to figure out what to make of this situation, and to take action appropriately. But time to think wasn't now. With every passing second, his heart hurt more and more at her teary face, and he just wanted it to stop.

"Ku-Kurosaki-kun, I'm sorry, b-but it just hurts so much," she barely managed to choke out. "I-I told myself not to bother you with my feelings, but it's so hard to keep it in-" She squeaked as she got cut off by Ichigo pulling her shoulders down into tight hug.

"Please don't cry… Don't cry," He whispered into her ear, his voice sounding forlorn. Her hair tickled his face as he started to bury his head into her tiny shoulder. She couldn't help but turn red at his actions, even though hers were bolder than his.

"K-Kurosaki-kun," she choked out once more, tears now dripping onto the pillow that lay underneath him. She didn't say any more, as she was unable to. He had rashly captured her lips in a desperate attempt to calm her down. Though Ichigo didn't just do it because he wanted her to relax. When he looked at her, he didn't see just sadness and pain. He saw beauty and wonderful hurt, that he had never noticed before.

He pulled her small frame into a tighter hug as their lips were locked. She didn't resist. She knew that he might act like nothing ever happened after this. He thought she might never speak to him after his actions. But they were focused about what was happening right now, and to them, that's all that mattered.


	5. Resolve and Strength

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Orihime's eyes glistened with determination, as she looked straight at him; her resolve finally decided.

"I-Inoue…" Ichigo's voice barely spoke out, seeing this newfound power in her. She gave him a small smile, her eyes speaking to him, telling him, 'It's all right… I'll protect you.' He swore to himself as he thought he should be protecting _her_; not the other way around.

He extended his hand out, trying to grasp her small wrist in his large hand, but it was too late. She muttered the words that would break his world; the words that made her shatter in front of his eyes.

"Sōten Kisshun, I reject."

And everything around her faded to black.


	6. Awake vs Sleep

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"It's just you and me," His voice traveled, his hot breath fanning over her ear, causing her to shudder involuntarily.

"No one else…" The lean, but well-built arms of his snaked around her curvy waist, his fingertips burning as he grazed her shirt. Her head rolled back, leaning for support on his shoulder.

"Not a soul," he whispered.

His lips brushed over her exposed neck, feeling her quiver under his touch. "Hime… Let's just turn the world down tonight…" A small smile stretched across her lips, her mind remembering the many reasons she fell in love with this man.

"Kurosaki-kun…"

And she woke up.


	7. I Wonder What Love Tastes Like

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"Say, Tatsuki-chan, I have a question," Orihime Inoue asked her best friend as they ate lunch on the roof. Her crush, Ichigo Kurosaki, was sitting nearby with his other friends. They ate silently, and the healer's words could be heard throughout the entire rooftop.

"What's it taste like?" She pondered, taking a bite out of her bread and red bean paste concoction. Tatsuki tilted her head in confusion.

"What's what taste like?" Her friend asked, trying not to turn green from the sight of Orihime's odd lunch.

"Love… What does love taste like?" She inquired, her cheeks turning a light pink. Tatsuki only smirked a bit to the question.

"I guess I haven't really thought about it before," She truthfully told her, taking a bite out of her own sandwich. "What do you think it tastes like?" Orihime put on a big, vibrant smile, and boldly answered,

"Strawberries."

Needless to say, a certain orange-haired teenager couldn't help but turn red at her innocent reply.


	8. You Thief!

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"Ichi-kun, Ichi-kun! It's terrible! Something terrible has happened!" The auburn-haired healer yelled frantically to her boyfriend. His eyebrows rose, questioning her as to what was so 'terrible'.

"What happened?" He asked, a tone of concern hidden in his voice. Her eyebrows furrowed and she crossed her arms in front of her voluptuous chest.

"I've been robbed! Someone stole something important to me!" She pouted. He now looked at her very concerned. 'I'm gonna kill whoever stole from Orihime.' He thought bitterly. He stood up and got close to her, quickly enveloping her into a tight hug.

"Do you know who did it? What got stolen?" He asked, sounding both worried and angry. Her upset pout quickly turned to a small smile. She stood on her tiptoes, and reached up to give him a light kiss on his lips.

"It was you Ichi-kun! You stole my heart!"


	9. Paper

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'_Dear Kurosaki-kun,_

_Do you get the answer to number four? Oh, and by the way, I like you a lot.'_

She shook her head and erased her current writing on the already crinkled paper. She sighed lightly and began writing again.

_'Kurosaki-kun, did you know that I've been thinking about someone recently. He's a no good punk with bright orange hair. He's so sweet and caring, and an amazing friend. Can you think of who he is?'_

Her cheeks turned a light pink, and she began to bite her bottom lip.

_'How am I supposed to write this?'_ She thought worriedly to herself. Her eyes hovered over to the next row of desks, next to hers, and about 4 seats ahead. 'He' sat at his desk, his left arm propping up his head. She just put on a small, but sad smile as she thought about her feelings. The ones she didn't want to burden him with.

Her gaze returned to the paper and she began to elegantly write out her note.

'_Kurosaki-kun,_

_Thanks for being a great friend. Please don't ever change.'_


	10. Tight Lips

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A dark blush crept up his face as he hesitantly walked over to his auburn-haired friend. 'How am I going to say this? Dammit, I don't know what to say!'

He quickly found himself standing in front of her, and his throat suddenly closed up. She sensed his presence and turned around, giving him a bright smile.

"Hey Kurosaki-kun, what's up?" Orihime asked happily, still grinning.

"U-Uh… I…" He couldn't say it. She continued to look at him, but now a cute pout on her face. Her making such a face only made it more distracting to him, but Ichigo gathered up his courage and quickly said what was on his mind.

"You. Me. Movies. This Saturday…" He fiercely spouted out of his mouth, and spun around, abruptly leaving the scene. Orihime stood there confused, and now very red herself.

"E-Ehhhh??"


	11. Shocker I

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"Ne, Ichi-kun… How much do you like surprises?" Orihime asked her husband, who was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking his morning coffee.

"Uh, I don't really like them, to be honest," Ichigo told her, glancing up from his newspaper to look at her. It was quick, but he caught her shifting eyes to the floor, almost in disappointment. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason…" He frowned.

"Hime…"

"I just, um… Well, you see…" She stuttered, fiddling the hem of her shirt. He took her hand in his, noticing her fear and worry in her voice. Her face grew red and she swallowed thickly before giving him a nervous smile.

"You're going to be a daddy…"


	12. Shocker II

_:D Sequel to the prompt prior to this! _

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His eyes grew wide at her small declaration.

"…What?" The tone in his voice gave Orihime fear. Her heart beat erratically against her chest, as she wondered if he hated the idea of being a father. He disliked surprises, after all, and finding out you're going to be a parent is a big one.

"U-Um…" She started, with a small stutter. Her mind raced as she thought of different ways to say it again. "W-We're expecting… We're going to be parents… There's a bun in the oven, uh, we're-" He quickly silenced her by pushing a finger against her lips. Ichigo looked at her with confused eyes.

"What…? How??" He asked, a worried tone in his voice. Her face grew hotter as she tried to answer the question honestly.

"W-Well, when two people love each other very much-" He cut her off again. It wasn't the answer he was looking for.

"No, not that, Hime…" He told her, a small blush creeping up his face as well. "So… There's…" He didn't finish, but merely put a hand to her abdomen, looking at it intensely, then looking back up to her. Orihime gave him another nervous smile and nodded, her eyes stinging with tears. Ichigo quickly brought his hand up to her face, to catch a quickly escaped tear, and curved his lips into a gentle smirk.

"I lied… I like surprises."


	13. Strawberries and Vanilla

_**.prompt. hair - **copper. :/ enjoy._

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Kurosaki Ichigo lay flat on his stomach, his head cocked to his left side with his cheek squished against the pillow. Dark amber eyes watched his wife lightly snooze, her body in the same position he was, her face towards his.

'_So beautiful…'_ He mentally commented, lazily bringing up a hand to her bare, pale shoulder. Placing his palm and digits onto her skin, she flinched in her sleep, breath hitching upon contact. Ichigo let his lips curl into a faint smile. _'And to think she of all people fell in love with me…'_

He entangled his fingers into her auburn hair, long enough to spill over her shoulders, down her back, and also on the sheets. Muttering a few words only in a tone full of love, Ichigo scooted closer to her slumbering form, soon pulling the healer against his chest.

Almost purring in content, Orihime snuggled closer, placing her own hands on his lean, muscular form.

"… I love you, Orihime…" He mumbled softly into her hair, smelling vanilla and strawberries. Sighing lightly, Ichigo felt her plump lips against his neck, causing him to wonder if she was awake or not.

"Love you, Ichi…" She half-heartedly replied, her lips pulled upwards into a smile. "Always and forever…"


	14. The Triple Threat

_three drabbles (old), done from prompts from Fly-sama. XD Though don't think there's anything 'bad' in this, despite the names of prompts. :/ I just don't write that stuff.

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_**prompt. **strawberry, hug, laugh_

_I._

'_Oh, his hair reminds me of a strawberry, just like his name!'_ Orihime mused, looking at the back of her boyfriend's head. A small smile curled up onto the healer's lips, showing she had an idea. _'I wonder…'_

She crawled on all fours, taking soft steps towards the bright-haired boy. She was so sneaky! She could scare him so easily! Orihime suppressed a giggle as she thought about how good of a ninja she'd be.

And she took the last step before enveloping Ichigo into a tight hug from behind, inciting a very obvious jump in place from him. She heard a low swear from his lovely lips, giving her a bigger grin.

"Hi Kurosaki-kun!" She spoke excitedly to him, her breath tickling his ear. The boy shuddered subconsciously under the healer's touch.

"Oh, h-hey, Inoue…" Ichigo stuttered, albeit unintentionally. He tried not to let his mind wander to far into the gutter as he accepted the hug from behind… But her breasts were squished against his back, dammit! He groaned, bringing a hand up to his face to hide the huge blush he was now sporting.

"Kurosaki-kun, you smell good…" She muttered, bringing her nose up to his orange locks and inhaling deeply.

"I do…? What do I smell like?" Ichigo asked, his voice wavering. His stupid hollow wasn't helping the matter either.

"Strawberries," Orihime chirped, now stringing her arms around his neck. "Kurosaki-kun smells like strawberries and it smells wonderful."

"Great… Now my 'scent' matches my name… Just perfect," The shinigami groaned. He heard a giggle from behind him, and the hug just got tighter.

"Maybe you don't think it's a good thing, but I think it's perfect," Orihime whispered sincerely. "Everything about you is perfect…"

Ichigo smiled a bit, his eyes softening. "… Thanks, Inoue."

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_**prompt. **sex_

_II._

Orihime half-heartedly gazed at the ceiling, her mind muddling on one thought and one thought only. She turned her head to face the scowling strawberry lying next to her. The very naked scowling strawberry next to her. The healer felt her face grow hotter as she replayed the previous night's happenings in her head.

She remembered the soft, tender kisses at first, and how they grew into intense, passionate ones that took her breath away. She remembered the lingering touches, skin on skin, that made her feel as if her flesh was on fire. And those butterflies! They stayed in her stomach for the longest time, fluttering about, but was soon replaced with an evil snake that appeared to coil up in her lower abdomen, the further the night went on. Fortunately for her, it managed to disappear after _that_, but the butterflies quickly returned.

Orihime flipped onto her side, sighing, as she watched the boy snooze softly. She bit her bottom lip, all while thinking. _'Kurosaki-kun and I really did it…'_ No doubt she was embarrassed about it all, and still was, but she knew it was another step in their relationship enough. She truly loved this boy, and was willing to give him everything - mind, heart, body, and soul.

Letting go of another sigh, Orihime sat up, taking a blanket with her to cover up. She knew he already saw her, but she was still embarrassed nonetheless. Blinking slowly, she brought her soft lips down to his forehead, placing a light kiss on the flesh.

"Ai shiteru… Kurosaki-kun…" She whispered, letting her lips hover just a few moments longer before getting up and leaving. If she had stayed for a few more minutes, she would've noticed his lips had curled up into a small smile.

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_**prompt. **weird_

_III._

"And then I made a snow cone with fresh, fluffy snow from the nearby snow bank and put on my own flavors, so it had a special-"

_'Boy, she doesn't stop rambling… She can be so weird…'_

"But of course, the aliens took over my brain and made me trip on the ice, making me fall and slide all over the place! Lucky for me, I-"

_'Yeah… Definitely weird…'_

"Oh, did you know about the rain, Kurosaki-kun? I know you don't like it too much, but I love it because I think it can connect two hearts together."

'_No… Not weird.'_

"It's like, the rain connects the sky and earth, which can never meet otherwise. I like to think that it can connect hearts as well…"

He gave her a smile, just reserved for her and her only.

'_Unique…'_

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_R & R~  
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	15. One Word

_a bunch of prompts from oneword(dot)come that I've previously done. If you stalk my LJ, you'll have seen these before, lol. So anyway... If you aren't aware of oneword, it gives you a prompt randomly(only one a day though), and you have 60 seconds to write as much as you can. [Though I'm a bad person and sometimes write just a smidgen over that time slot.]) so if these are crappy, it's because I was on a short amount of time. XD

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**.prompt. powder**

_Flour... So much flour..._

"Hime...?"

"Ah! Welcome home Ichigo-kun!"

"What happened to you?"

"Oh, I just tried making cookies!!"

"So... That's why there's flour all over the floor?"

"Ah, no. Actually, I sneezed while stirring the dry ingredients."

"And you managed to get it all over the kitchen."

"Hai!"

_*groan*_

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**.prompt. latch **

"Hold onto me, Inoue..." He muttered, taking the battered girl into his arms. Latching onto his hakama, she nodded shakily, closing her eyes tightly, a desperate attempt to keep the bloody scene around her, out of her head.

"I-I'm s-so sorry..." She sobbed. She didn't mean to. She'd only done it out of protection. To protect Kurosaki-kun, and herself.

Around her lay many and many bloody Arrancar. She unintentionally slaughtered, only wanting to help.

In the end, she felt more hurt of how little she helped.

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**.prompt. burst**

Every time she saw him, she thought her heart was going to burst. He was just so handsome, and so kind, and her heart swelled with happy feelings.

"Kurosaki-kun, I have something to confess..."

"Eh? What is it Inoue?"

"I-I... I love you...."

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**.prompt. flavor**

"What's your favorite flavor?"

"Eh? For what?"

"I dunno... anything and everything, I guess?"

"Ho hum... That's a tough one... But I guess I'd have to say Ichigo."

*spits out drink* "W-What??? How am I your favorite flavor???"

"I meant the strawberry!! The fruit!!"

_'... Not really...'_

--

**.prompt. figure **

He figured she was the most beautiful person around. Big gray eyes hidden beneath large, fluttering eyelashes. (Those made his stomach flutter too.) He loved her constantly rosy cheeks, and the fact her lips were always curved upwards into a grin, and she seemed to always radiate upon seeing him.

Those were just a few things he noticed(and loved) about her. He just wished they could somehow be his.

--

**.prompt. tower **

A fairy tale! The mighty prince rescues his princess from the high tower, and defeats the evil character in the end. She wished she could have something cool like that happen to her one day.

It did. She was put in a tall tower, was given a nice dress to wear, and her prince really did come to save her.

Only for him to die twice, turn into a monster, and leave her alone to rescue his town.

... Real-life fairy tales aren't as good as she thought they'd be.

--

**.prompt. ship**

"My ship!! It's stayed afloat!!"

"What the hell are you talking about??"

"You and Inoue!"

"But what does us... going out, have to do with a freaking boat?"

"Boy, you're an idiot... Not know what ship means..." *scoffs*

"Wait, what?? Hey! Don't you walk away from me, Rukia! Tell me what a damn ship is!!"

--

**.prompt. coat**

"K-K-Kurosaki-kun, w-what are you doing?"

"I'm bleeding, what does it look like?"

"B-But do you need to take off your shinigami coat though to let me heal you?"

_'No...'_

"Yes. So if you don't mind, we should get me healed as soon as possible, don't you agree?"

"..."

"Or do I need to take off my pants too?"

"No, no!!! The coat is just fine!!"

--

**.prompt. discreet.**

He really wished he would have keep their whole relationship a secret. She, of course, wanted to tell her best friend, which he knew would lead to the whole school knowing.

But she promised she wouldn't that her friend wouldn't say anything, so he allowed his girlfriend to tell her.

And he promptly received a punch in the face soon after.

But he'd gladly take a bruised face over gossiping teens any day.

--

**.prompt. birdhouse**

"It's stuck!! Oh no, it's stuck!!"

"What's stuck?"

"My hat!"

"... Where's your hat stuck in?"

"The birdhouse! My hat got stuck in the birdhouse while I was trying to put my head in the hole."

_"... *insert heavy groan here*..."_

--

**.prompt. clasp**

"Dammit, I can't get this stupid clasp!"

"Come on, Kurosaki-kun, you can do it!!"

"I don't need cheering... God, who invented these stupid things?!?"

_*click*_

"Finally!! Now we can continue..."

--

**prompt: blinds.**

"... Do they realize we can see them?" The redhead muttered, his face heating up.

"Apparently not." A small, black-haired woman replied.

"... Damn, didn't know Ichigo had it in him... But seriously, can't they close their fucking blinds?!?!"

"... Apparently not."

--

**prompt – mittens**

"W-Wah, but my hands aren't cold, really!"

"Take them, Inoue."

"Your fingers are going to fall off Kurosaki-kun!!"

"... Inoue, take them before I do something I won't regret."

".... Fine."

--

**.prompt. Give**

I'll give you my heart forever, if you just smile at me once in return.

I'll give you my heart for five lifetimes, if you just glance at me once.

You smile and look at me, letting me give you my heart for all time.

But it doesn't matter. You already had my heart in the first place.


	16. Crying Sky

_another oneword(dot)com prompt. :P

* * *

_**.prompt. Pour**

The rain... Oh, how she loved the rain. She would sometimes just stand outside and let the droplets pour over her, washing away her bad feelings, allowing the good ones to come in.

Curling her lips into a small smile as she stood, arms extended, she hoped one day she could be in the rain with him as well.


	17. With Me

_I'm pretty sure most people aren't like this, but I absolutely love the feeling of the angst when reading stories. XD You know that upset feeling you get in your stomach? And you feel like you want to cry? XD I love that feeling. (Prolly cuz it reassures me that I'm getting into the fic I'm reading, to an emotional level. :D) So I wrote a quick drabble about angst Ichigo has about Orihime accidentally getting hurt when encountering a group of thugs he's run into before. :/ Maybe I'll write a continuation of this one day, but not any time soon. I have too much other stuff to finish. (Though I'm really sick atm, and have no energy to write or do anything else. [Yay for going to the gastrologist on tues., lol. Yes, I need to go to a specialist now~ Whoopie...]) _

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Small, pale legs dangled off the table as a light hum echoed throughout the patient room. Ichigo only felt his stomach sink further and further the more his girlfriend expressed her good mood. Pressing the damp washcloth to Orihime's head, his teeth clenched together, completely unknowing of what to say.

The healer, as she was being treated for her cuts, pleasantly drew imaginary circles on the fabric of her boyfriend's shirt, to hopefully keep her, and him, somewhat distracted. As Orihime remembered the group of thugs they'd encountered on the way home from school, she knew Ichigo was feeling bad. And she didn't need to look at his extremely guilty expression to know that.

"Orihime, I-I'm sorry…" Ichigo finally managed to choke out, slowing down his dabbing to her still bleeding forehead. It had happened so fast. First he was punching a familiar asshole to the ground, and the next moment he looked to his sweet-hearted girlfriend to find her lying on the pavement. It wasn't long for him to finish pummeling them all, and rushing to Orihime's side. She was fine, but she was bleeding in a few spots, and that sight made him sick to his stomach. The humming stopped, and big gray eyes looked up to him in confusion.

"Ichigo-kun, it's really alright…" She tried to reassure him, stopping her tracing and lightly placed the hand on his chest, a small smile adorning her slightly beat up face. Still, he looked to her with a hurt and guilty expression on his own face.

"N-No, it's not! I couldn't protect you… I've gotten into those stupid fights before, and I should've known they were going to come back," Ichigo forced the words out, as hard as it was. Bringing his gaze to the floor, he dropped his hands to his side, rag in one hand and all. Her own heart began to hurt as she wished he would look at her.

Tightening her grip on the fabric of his shirt, she gently pulled him closer to her, their bodies not even centimeters away. A little startled at the movement, the shinigami looked at her in confusion. Orihime gave him another smile – one that took his breath away – and let resolve set in.

"I'm okay, Ichigo-kun. And I thank you for being there for me," Orihime spoke softly, both her hands shifting to the side of his shirts, bunching the fabric around his waist. "Besides… You've bled plenty for me. Can't I be a hero and bleed a little for you at least?" The healer hoped to cheer him up, but little did she know, her methods weren't exactly right. She had good intentions, but her way of approaching them was off.

Still seeing his downcast gaze and his scowl deeply etched into his face, Orihime realized she wasn't getting through to him.

"Ne, Ichigo-kun… What can I do for you to make you stop hurting?"

Amber eyes soon looked up to her, both gentleness and intensity in them. Ichigo slowly put his own hands on her small waist, his thumbs lazily rubbing against the T-shirt.

"Don't ever leave me…" He whispered almost inaudibly, his heavy stare sending shivers down Orihime's spine. "I-I want you to be by me… So I can keep an eye on you." A smile crept onto her face, and she quickly shifted her hands from his side to around his neck, fingers playing with his bright orange hair.

"Of course," Orihime muttered back, before pulling his brightly-colored head down to meet her own in a haste kiss. "I'll be with you forever, Ichigo-kun." Upon her bold movements, a smirk found its way onto Ichigo's face, and he took her lips again in another kiss.

"Thank you, Orihime…"


	18. The Perfect Confession

**_.prompt._**_ confession_

http://i84(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/k34/Dark_Angel_Of_Light/omgyay(dot)jpg

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Tan fingers curled into a fist, soon relaxing again, until it was a repeated pattern. Why couldn't he look at her? He had called Inoue to talk, because he _knew_ there was things needed to be said. But he was being weak, and scared to talk to her. He was afraid of her rejecting his friendship and him in general. All because he couldn't protect her in the first place.

"Kurosaki-kun, are you okay?" Orihime asked in her sweet, worried voice. Letting his eyes close, he pictured her concerned expression she probably had on. He refused to open his eyes and look at her directly. He didn't deserve to look at her.

Keeping his head bowed down, he nodded subtly, opening his mouth and closing it again soon after. _'I'm so weak…'_ He mentally scolded himself, for he couldn't even apologize to the important woman in front of him.

"Inoue, I…" Ichigo managed to choke out, hands curling into the fist once again. He furrowed his eyebrows, his bright orange hair falling over his eyes. "I-I'm so sorry…"

"E-Eh? About what, Kurosaki-kun?" How she managed to reply to him so easily was beyond him. The shinigami couldn't tell if her innocent voice made him feel better or worse. "You've done nothing you need to apologize for, I don't see-"

"No, Inoue… I-I need to say this…" He cut her off, promptly surprising the healer. "It's my fault they took you to Hueco Mundo and I'm sorry for not protecting you…"

"Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime muttered to herself, finding her cheeks growing hotter. Surely this couldn't be the reason he called her out. He didn't need to apologize for anything! Her expression falling, she folded her hands together in front of her chest, the wind lightly tossing their clothes and hair around.

"A-And I'm sorry for not apologizing earlier… I…" He stopped, desperately searching for courage he needed for this moment. Scowl arching deeper, he let out a small, sarcastic laugh. "I can fight Arrancar and hollows without feeling fear, but I can't even apologize to you without being afraid of losing you as a friend…"

Orihime blinked slowly, wondering if she was hearing right. Was he really concerned about their friendship? She managed to smile a bit for him, even though he refused to look her straight in the eye.

"Kurosaki-kun, you'll always be my friend, no matter what we go through," she explained gently to him, taking a brave step forward to him. "So please don't think I won't like you anymore because what happened." Orihime took slow steps as she came closer to him, explaining. Part of her heart soared that he was so concerned about the two of them, but she wished he wouldn't hurt so much over it.

Eventually, Ichigo noticed her shoes getting closer, meaning she was getting nearer to him. Taking in a shaky breath, he prepared to continue speaking.

"I-Inoue, I-"

"Kurosaki-kun."

The firmness in her voice startled him, causing his head to finally rise up, and look her straight in the eye. Into her beautiful, big gray eyes. Swallowing thickly, he studied her facial features, inwardly beating himself up again for looking at her. _'I don't fucking deserve it, dammit…'_

Yet he somehow mesmerized, and continued to look at her, as she searched his eyes for understanding. Glancing down for a moment, she took his large hand and held in her own ones. A small smile played upon her lips as she amusedly traced lines on his palm, keeping it startling close to her own body. Ichigo could swear he felt her body heat faintly radiating onto his digits. Finding it even harder to breathe, he looked from their hands back to her eyes, very confused.

"H-How can you be okay with all this? Inoue, I failed you as a friend! You shouldn't be around someone like me, who can't keep his promises…"

"There are times when you can't protect everyone, Kurosaki-kun, as hard as it is to accept it… I know I've had the same problem, but I'm growing to live with it," Orihime explained, still calmly toying around with his hand. Bringing her ashen eyes back up to his nervous amber ones, she spoke with sincerity in her voice. "I'll never hate you, Kurosaki-kun…" She breathed, a smile on her face, oddly causing his heart to beat erratically in his chest. "And thank you for saving me."

He opened his mouth to retort, but she swiftly moved one of her hands to his lips, temporarily silencing him. A few tears stung at her eyelashes, and she smiled bigger.

"It means a lot to me that you consider me such a good friend."

She continued to hold onto his hand as she finished, soon standing on her tiptoes to do something that would startle him. Orihime placed her lips lightly upon the shinigami's cheek, giving him a small kiss, meant as a sign of thanks.

"I'm glad we had this talk, Kurosaki-kun…" She replied quietly, pulling back as well as holding back a small laugh at his shocked, very red face. "And thanks again for coming to my rescue." Orihime released his hand, letting it fall back to his sides. Giving him one last, bright smile, she lifted a hand to wave goodbye.

"See you tomorrow at school, Kurosaki-kun!" The healer told him, soon walking off to leave him alone. Ichigo stood there, brain still trying to recover from its recent meltdown.

What had he been afraid of? He knew how Inoue acted, and he should've known she wouldn't push him away.

Letting a small smile of his own creep onto his face, his hand absent-mindedly drifted up to the spot on his cheek, where she had just been.

'_See you later… Inoue.'_


	19. The Best Pet

_**.prompt.** orange squid (from the IchiHime FC at BA_)

* * *

--

"Ichigo-kun, I want a pet…" Orihime pouted, her lips puckering out slightly. Those damn lips mesmerized him again, just like every other time she did it. Raising his eyebrows, he diverted his attention to his girlfriend, besides him, slipping an arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

"What kind of pet? A dog? Maybe a cat?" He inquired, starting to wonder if she was getting lonely in that big apartment of hers. If that was the case, he'd have to visit her more often, he noted. Ichigo watched his girlfriend ponder the idea of what pet she'd want.

"Hm… Something unique…" She murmured, putting her finger on her chin while leaning into his hug.

_Of course…_ He rolled his eyes. This girl was the definition of unique, of course she'd want something the same.

"How about a squid?" Orihime suddenly blurted out, a huge grin on her face with bright, shining eyes as she stared at her shinigami boyfriend.

"A squid," he deadpanned. She nodded gleefully and snaked her arms around his neck, her oh-so lovely digits playing with the tips of his hair, occasionally moving to massage his scalp. Her innocent ministrations sent shivers down his spine.

"Yes, Ichigo-kun, a squid… In fact…" Orihime brought her voice lower, still toying with his orange locks. "I think I'd like an orange squid best… Because orange is my favorite color, you know." He nodded dumbly, knowing very well what her favorite color was.

"Yes, Orihime, I know you like orange…" He mumbled, unable to hold back any longer. Her innocent touches to his hair made him lose focus. He pulled her to the floor with a grin and she giggled, very knowing of what was to come.

--

So now Ichigo sat at the beach, alone and very, _very _cold. Grinding his teeth together, he bitterly reminded himself he was doing this for Orihime.

Yes, Kurosaki Ichigo was sitting on the beach, waiting for a big orange squid to show. The boy who used to beat up thugs from other schools had gotten so soft; he waited by the ocean for an animal that didn't even exist.

Maybe he was hanging around with Orihime too much, as he started to believe that there was indeed an orange squid somewhere on Earth. With a quick sneeze, Ichigo sniffled and hunched his body together, but kept a watchful eye on the water.

--

"Oh my god, Orihime. You actually made Ichigo do something that's impossible. Actually, I'm not even sure anymore if he knows it's impossible…"

"Eh? What do you mean, Tatsuki-chan?"

"Ichigo's looking for your orange squid," Rukia cut in, earning a quick shush from the other 20 spectators at her side. Many of their friends had followed the boy to see where he was going, with Orihime in tow, desperately begging them to leave him be.

Jaw going slack, Orihime was very surprised. "R-Really?" The two girls only nodded and snickered. The tough-ass boy they had grown to know was a mere, lovesick puppy now. Orihime had him wrapped around her little, daydreaming finger.

In a sudden burst of enthusiasm, Orihime jumped through the bushes and ran to the boy sitting alone in the sand. She ignored the cries to stop from behind, and halted her running about a hundred feet away from the redhead.

"Gooo, Ichigo-kun! You can do it!!" She cheered, a big smile on her face. Alarmed, Ichigo jumped straight into the air at the sudden yelling. His heart rate shot up and he frantically glanced at who just called his name. Well, more like yelled it. His features automatically softened upon seeing her bright auburn hair, glowing brown eyes with a dazzling smile adorning her face. He could only smile the more she cheered him on, giving him encouragement to catch the infamous orange squid.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and made his way towards the girl, watching her with dark eyes as she looked positively beautiful, trying to keep her hair from whipping around too much from the wind. He smirked at her, taking her smooth, small hand in his.

"Let's go home, Orihime," he told her quietly, giving her hand a slight squeeze. She merely nodded in return and the two ventured off.

--

Two weeks later, Ichigo startled the poor girl by shoving a paper bag towards her, his cheeks on fire.

"E-Eh? What's this Ichigo-kun?" Orihime asked, lips puckering out again, just the way he liked it, he thought interestingly.

"Well… I wasn't able to get you a real orange squid before, but…" He started, and then stopped as he ran a hand through his thick orange locks. "Just open it," Ichigo told her. She obeyed his instruction and proceeded to open the bag. Inside held a stuffed toy – An orange squid with a mean look on his face. Her face stretched into a wide grin and she suppressed a giggle at the thought of how it looked _just _like Ichigo when he was irritated.

"It's so cute!" She cooed, putting the bag on the floor and squished the adorable plushie together. "I love it!" She spoke happily, pulling that toy into her bosom. Her action didn't go unnoticed, and Ichigo quickly wished how he could be like that plushie.

"You do? I mean, I figured you wouldn't ever have to feed it or clean up after it, so it's kind of like the perfect pet…"

"Oh, Ichigo-kun, I absolutely, love it! Thank you so much!" She cried before throwing herself to him, giving him a huge hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. He welcomed her embrace and smiled as well.

"You're very welcome…"

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	20. Boats and Birds

_An alternate idea of what could've happened the night Orihime left instead. *sweatdrop* I know, it's weird, and it's been done before. Though keep in mind, I'm so tired, I didn't bother to edit/fix it any more than spell check. (Though I still think it looks okay.) Yadda, yadda._

* * *

--

Besides being near death from his recent battle with Grimmjow, Kurosaki Ichigo thought the following night would've been the same. He would sleep, his mind in a deep, unconscious state of rest following his big fight. He wouldn't be bothered… He would just sleep.

He didn't know what time it was, but all he knew was that a warm breath tickled his face, causing him to scrunch his nose in annoyance, as his sleep was being disturbed. Ichigo half-heartedly shrugged it off, still too weak to move and see if there was really anyone there.

_It's just my imagination…_ He told himself, letting himself teeter back onto the edge of deep, dark sleep. _Just my… _Wet, warm drops of _something_ fell onto his face, and a choked sob escaped the not so imagined intruder's lips.

"I-I can't do it…" A voice spoke quietly, causing his slumber to be reawakened. "I-I just can't…" Something about that voice sounded familiar to him, but his eyelids were still too heavy to open up and discover who it was. A girl, for sure, higher pitched… With a gentle tone to it. _Inoue…_ Was the first person he thought of. She'd _always _be the first person he'd think of when using words like gentle, kind, compassionate…

Another sob escaped her, and he heard a soft thud against the glass of his window. "Y-You know, Kurosaki-kun… There was a lot I wanted to do…" Her distressed voice and words alarmed him, making him wonder even more what her reasoning for being here was. Orihime's continuous sobbing didn't sit well with him, and he forced his tired, weak body to do _something, anything!_ Just to get her to stop crying.

"Ku-kurosaki-kun?" Orihime questioned, brown eyes growing big with alarm. Ichigo opened his own eyes and propped his upper body up onto his elbows, biting back a groan of pain due to most likely opening his wounds. His stomach dropped at her tear-soaked face, finding she had been indeed crying. Bringing up his injured hand to his own face, he discovered his own was full of the same tears she had been spilling.

"Inoue… W-What are you doing here??" He asked in a harsh whisper, doing his best not to reopen his wounds. But he found it kind of difficult considering his beautiful friend was in his room, apparently crying over him moments before.

In the middle of the night.

His heart hammered faster in his ribcage at the thought.

"N-No, Kurosaki-kun, y-you can't-" Orihime stuttered, dropping back further, her body flush against the cool wall. "I-I need to go!" She spoke quickly, obviously very embarrassed and very upset. A loud clang of metal dropping startled him, making his injuries hurt a bit more at his jumping action. More sobs coursed through her small, fragile body, her tears falling more fervently than before. She repeated "No, no, no," over and over again, like a mantra, a prayer. One with hopes that this was all a dream of her own.

"I-Inoue, calm down!" Ichigo ordered the young healer, extending an arm to grab at her elbow. She jerked it away, her face full of pain, and instead dropped down to the floor, desperately searching for the bracelet that would make her "invisible". Once she would slip it back on, she'd leave just as quickly as she came, and probably cry all the way to the meeting spot, with fear in her heart Ulquiorra would "punish" her for disobeying orders.

It wasn't as easy to find though, seeing as it was very dark and the metal object managed to roll under his bed. "I-I can't…" She stuttered again, dropping on all fours and stretching under the sleeping furniture to grab at her only hope.

"Inoue!" Ichigo wanted to shout, but resorted to a loud whisper. Swinging his feet over the opposite side of his bed, narrowly missing her head, he ignored his physical pains and paid attention to her emotional ones. Hunching over to grab a hold of her slim, upper arms, Ichigo gritted his teeth from the ache and hoisted her out from under his bed and up, to face him. "Calm down!" He told her one last time, only this time, he told her calmly himself.

The healer broke down in harder sobs, but gave up, defeated. His grip on her shoulders grew looser and he watched her with worried eyes.

"Inoue… What are you doing here?" He asked quietly and cautiously, as if walking on eggshells of sorts. He didn't want her breaking down further, if possible, but was genuinely curious about her being in his room in the middle of the night.

"I… I…" Orihime hiccupped, bringing up her small hands to wipe away the still falling tears. "Ku-Kurosaki-kun, l-let me go! I need to g-go now!" Orihime now began to thrash around, tears falling harder yet again. She wasn't supposed to be here, and now she was risking both her and him. Ichigo had no choice but to grip her tighter and shake her lightly, trying to get her back to her senses.

"You need to calm down, Inoue! Why do you need to go?"

"I…I… N-No, U-Ulquiorra will hurt you if I'm seen-"

"Ulquiorra put you up to this??"

Orihime seemed to stop for a moment, finally bringing her big, brown eyes, glistening with unshed tears, to meet with his own. Her heart slowed down for a short moment before those tears threatened and stung again. Wouldn't they ever leave her alone?

"I-If you've seen me, t-then you'll be killed Kurosaki-kun! I need to go!" She cried, her voice in a broken whisper. Her body, which was shaking before with hard sobs, was merely shaking back and forth as she rocked herself slightly in the same motion. Ichigo kept a hand on her shoulder, but allowed her to sit on the edge of his bed in the same manner he was. His gaze never leaving hers, he felt it was hard to be rational and understanding, since he didn't get what was going on. She was here, in his room, crying over him, and now she was spouting nonsense about him getting hurt by being here in the first place!

"Inoue… Take a deep breath," he commanded simply, wanting her to calm down first and foremost. She nodded dumbly and did as she was told. She inhaled slowly, and then exhaled slowly, her eyes getting heavy from all her crying. "No calmly explain why you're here and what's going on."

She hesitated, biting her bottom lip hard as she determined if she should really tell him or not.

"I-I… I'm sorry, I can't…" She whispered, her breath shuddering as she spoke.

"Inoue, you have to trust me. I'm your friend, aren't I?"

Those words alone sent a shiver down her spine, and she looked at him earnestly, heart aching with longing and other excess pain. Her tongue darted out to lick at her dry lips and she nodded again.

"I… N-Need to go to Hueco Mundo… Aizen says he wants my power…" She finally confessed, her heart rate picking up in speed again. "B-but, Ulquiorra said I could say my goodbyes to one last person before I could go…" Orihime darted her eyes back to the floor, shivering slightly at the sudden change in room temperature. Ichigo's jaw went slack and his brows rose.

"You chose… me?" He asked, half-heartedly wondering if he sounded like a broken record. Yet again, Orihime nodded and her grip on the fabric of his comforter grew tighter and tighter.

"Kurosaki-kun," Orihime started, finally managing to "calm down", although her voice was still laced with fear. "I need to go back now." She stood, and then proceeded to bend back down to grab her trinket from under the bed. Without all those annoying tears in the way, she could now determine its exact location. With her metal bracelet back in her hands, her newfound curse and weight of the world, she could leave. To excuse herself from the one she loved most, and go to a figurative hell.

And to think, it would've all been _so_ much easier if he had stayed asleep.

Orihime positioned the bracelet, ready to place it back on her slender wrist. And within a few moments, she'd disappear right in front of him, even though she would still be there, and would slip back out the way she came.

Only, Ichigo's large (and very warm) hand reached out to grab at her wrist before she could do anything "rash". She looked up at him confused, and his eyes held the same fear she had just moments ago.

"Wait, where are you going?" He asked, his voice full of worry and some irritation, it seemed. Orihime's brows fell and her shoulders went slack.

"I need to meet up with Ulquiorra at the meeting spot… Then I'm going to Hueco Mundo."

The way she said it so simply boggled his mind, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Oh no, you're not going, Inoue," he warned her, his scowl returning and brows knitting tightly together. "You're staying here." Subconsciously, his grasp slid from her wrist, to hold onto her tiny hand. Orihime's cheeks burned hotter at this simple act.

"Kurosaki-kun, I need to do this."

"Why the hell do you need to do this??" Ichigo's voice grew too loud, and she quickly shushed him with a finger to his lips. He didn't know his sisters were sleeping next to his bed, but she did. If the two were to wake up and find their brother and other girl together, it might look bad. Once he seemed to take the hint to keep quiet, she removed his finger, her skin tingling slightly from the feeling of his lips on it. "I promised to protect you, Inoue. You're not leaving."

Orihime shook her head slowly and gave a squeeze to his large hand, before giving him a bright, blinding smile that was so beautiful, it startled him and caused him to jump a bit in his spot. Although, he could see much pain too and it made his stomach flip.

"Good-bye, Kurosaki-kun," the healer whispered before yanking her hand quickly out of his and slipping on the bracelet. She did it so quick; he wouldn't have the time to retaliate. Ichigo now reached out to nothing, his eyes big with worry.

She was gone.

He had failed her.

Limply letting his fatigued body fall back against the pillow, he groaned, throwing his left arm over his eyes, as if shielding any other pain away from his vision. With his right fist, he pounded softly into the mattress, grinding his teeth together in frustration.

And that was the night Kurosaki Ichigo promised he'd rescue Inoue Orihime at all costs.

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	21. Nice Hat

The one thing he really, _really_ wanted to do for her before she got back was clean their apartment so it was spotless, and make a fabulous dinner.

After all, it's not every day that his lovely girlfriend, Orihime, gets to go France to introduce her new line of bakeries. She had her own little store here, and soon after, more stores were popping up, and after a while, a friend of a friend of a friend of his dad's lived in France and owned a chain of stores. This "friend of a friend" yaddah yaddah found out about her delicious pastries and ventured to her store while on a business trip to Karakura, and he found her bubbly personality to be absolutely delightful.

To keep a longer story short, she went to France for her own business trip, and was currently on her way back, due at the airport in almost three hours. Ichigo's lips curled up at the thought of seeing his amazing, hard-working girlfriend after almost three weeks. _Three, _very_ unbearable weeks without her…_ He thought, remembering how he listened to her ramble and ramble while on the phone. He would get tired, definitely, due to the drastic time change, but he'd stay up late just so he could listen about her day.

"Damn, I'm so smitten…" He cursed lightly, picking up a newly folded basket of clothes, though part of him was really, _really_ excited to see her again. They could talk; they could eat dinner together… His cheeks started to flush with color. He could finally kiss her again.

Ichigo let his lips curl into a goofy smile and started to take frantic paces back to their bedroom, as there was much to be done and little time to do it. Unbeknownst to the substitute shinigami, he had dropped a towel on the floor earlier on, before they were folded, and hadn't noticed it at all now. With all its wrinkled and bunched up glory, Ichigo tripped over the fabric, falling ungracefully to the floor. Sensing his imminent fall, he positioned his body to fall on his back so the folded clothes would (hopefully) keep folded on top of him.

There was no such luck, and the clothes flew and scattered everywhere. Dish towels and various socks fell around him, and his eyes narrowed in irritation. Propping his body up on his hands, his right fist gripped at a random garment, growling at what had just happened.

_I don't have time for this!_ He fumed in his mind at his accidental trip, also beating himself up for pulling such a dunce move.

"Ichigo-kun, I'm home!" A cheery, very familiar voice called out into the apartment, nearly startling him. His eyes grew wide with confusion. _She's not supposed to be home yet! _

Just around the corner, Orihime smiled to herself, very proud of how she'd been able to get an earlier flight in. Part of her felt so mischievous at her idea of surprising Ichigo by being home early. Dropping down her suitcases, she assessed her figure for a quick moment, straightening out any wrinkles in her dress before putting on her signature smile.

"I actually wanted to surprise you, Ichigo-kun!" She started, folding her hands together behind her back as she neared the hallway. "I managed to get on an earlier flight and…" Orihime trailed off as she turned the corner, eyes growing alarmingly wide at the sight in front of her.

Part of her wanted to laugh at how adorable he looked on the floor, clothes scattered around him with a look on his face that he _knew_ he made a mistake. Almost like that of a little kid's, she mused.

But most of her was mortified at what was sitting on _top_ of his adorable, tangerine-colored head. Orihime opened her mouth to say something, but instead snapped it shut with more humiliation. Ichigo looked at her in confusion, but still felt horrible about not being able to clean the mess up quicker.

Finally, Orihime pointed her slim finger towards his head, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"I-Ichigo-kun… W-Why do you have my… p-panties on your head?" She asked quietly, not wanting to make more of a scene, if possible. His already big brown eyes grew bigger, bugging out of his head. His left hand hesitantly lifted off from the floor and he reached to touch the underwear that had somehow nestled upon his cranium. Immediately, his face flooded with heat and shame, absolutely mortified with this predicament. He'd folded her clothes hundreds of times before, but now it seemed like the more degrading time yet.

"I-It's not what it looks like!!" He cried, throwing his right hand into the air along with the accompanying cloth he had grasped before. A loud gasp came from the woman in front of him, and lone behold, he was holding up her frilly, pink bra.

Never in her life had she seen his face so absurdly red.

Ichigo yanked it back, eyes _huge_ at the offending piece of underwear. "I-It really isn't!!" He stuttered, brown orbs silently begging for forgiveness. Orihime shifted her weight to one hip and brought her hand up to her mouth, cheeks still burning with embarrassment from the both of them.

She really had felt bad about it. He looked so, _so_ upset and flustered over her underwear both in his hand and on his head. It was like he'd never seen them before! Orihime rolled her eyes up to the ceiling for a moment, biting her bottom lip.

Dropping her knees to the floor, she was face-to-face with her boyfriend of a few years, his cheeks vibrantly red and eyes glancing off to the side. Orihime snaked her arms around his neck, letting her weight fall onto his half-leaning, half-sitting form.

"I'm home…" She whispered almost inaudibly, hoping he'd calm down with her gentle tone. His lips curved upwards and he placed a hand on the small of her back, fingers twitching against the fabric.

"Welcome home, Orihime," Ichigo replied breathlessly. Truly, it was so good to have her back.

Pulling away from the hug, leaving Orihime confused, he smiled before leaning in to meet her lips. Her small hand rested on the front of his shirt, her skin almost burning through the cloth. A soft blush spread throughout both their faces as they parted, foreheads leaning against each other. Orihime smiled one of her bright, blinding smiles.

"It's definitely good to be back…"

He grinned, agreeing, and immediately dove in back in for another kiss.

_Definitely._

_._

_._

_.  
_


	22. These Words

_Hur duuur, so many oneshots and drabbles lately... I dunno, I just feel like I don't have enough energy to write out chapters for my multi-chap fics. (Even though I've attempted to start a lot of them.) Blah._

* * *

--

The faint _thumps_ of his heart beating tempted Orihime into a deep slumber, the sound almost soothing and calming. She exhaled slowly, eyes fluttering closed for a moment as she lay on the chest of Kurosaki Ichigo. Her auburn had spilled over her shoulders and onto his front, her hairclips sitting on the nearby table.

"Kurosaki-kun..." She whispered, her feather-light breaths slightly tickling at the base of his neck. The arm Ichigo had slung around her small, and bare, waist pulled her tighter, closer. Licking at his lips, he opened his eyes and glanced down at the healer mass of red hair.

"Hm?"

Even though she had asked for him, she remained silent for a few minutes, her slender index finger lightly stroking each of the letters on his graphic tee. Her innocent touches sent shivers down his spine, and his heart nearly melted at the endearing sight.

"I love you..." She breathed, cheeks flushing as she shyly pulled away a bit, almost fearful of his reaction. She hadn't said it much, so saying it now was like walking into practically new territory. She could feel his hand tense up on the risen hem of her shirt. Biting her lip, she indeed took that as the indication that she said too much.

Rising out of her lying position, her face burned hotter with shame. "I-I'm so sorry, that was too forward of me- eep!" Ichigo noticed her movement and pulled her back into a firm hug, her soft body pressing against his hard, muscled one.

"I love you...too..." Ichigo mumbled awkwardly into her hair. Orihime's eyes grew big, seeing as this was the first time he had said it to her. She said it before, which eventually led her to think it was one-sided, but he always assured her it wasn't. However, that didn't mean he actually said it.

"You... Y-You do?"

"Yes... I do... Orihime..."

She raised her head to face him, cheeks bright red. _H-He said my name too..._

Absolutely excited on the inside about his confession and cuteness over how flustered he was, Orihime smiled big before lowering her lips to his in a swift, bold action. _This_ was different, switched, as Ichigo was normally the one to initiate the more physical things. But that didn't mean he minded it in the least.

Orihime shyly, but happily moved her lips against his, bringing her palms and digits to settle into his hair, every once in a while massaging his scalp. A sudden shudder went down his back and he grinned, placing his larger hands on her waist. That oh-so, deliciously soft and small waist...

"Say it again?" He inquired between a kiss, still smiling like a little boy. Orihime complied, pulling away with half-lidded, heated eyes and a smile playing on her lips.

"I love you," she told him in that sweet, gentle voice of hers. _The one she'll sing our kids to sleep with_, Ichigo even let himself think.

Surprising her by rolling her so she was on her back, he hovered dangerously close to her, lips not even centimeters away. With the same fiery eyes, he looked down to her, brown eyes burning darkly.

"I love the way you say I love you..."

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	23. Emotionally Challenged

_I'm feeling kinda crappy... Not like sick, but emotionally... I feel angsty and want to cry. And for no good reason either!! -_- (Maybe I'm like Orihime in the sense that I'm doubting people for no good reason...) So here's a random drabble... I was writing the new heartbeat chapter, but that was too fluffy for my current mood, so I had to stop and write something else... Blah. Sorry it's crappy._

* * *

--

Orihime lie on her bed, back against the smooth comforter. With her heart pounding in her chest and teeth clenching together, she held back the urge to cry. Nothing had happened, but somehow she felt betrayed. Could it be because she was merely pregnant and she went through this roller coaster of emotions on a daily basis? Or was there some underlying thing she missed?

Choking back a sob, she let her trembling hand rest on her swollen belly, hot tears rolling down her cheeks.

_I don't like this..._

It was always these days that made her hate herself so much. The ones were she felt like she'd fall apart if she didn't have anyone sane and/or caring next to her. That is, because most of the time, she felt like she was the insane one, with all these crazy emotions and strange urges.

"Orihime?" A soft voice accompanied with a soft knock startled her. Orihime quickly sat up, temporarily forgetting about her large tummy, which caused her to fall back onto the plush bed. Groaning in frustration, she raised an arm to her eyes and wiped away the tears and decided to remain lying on the bed.

"Y-Yes?" She stuttered, her voice cracking half-way through her sentence. Ichigo opened the door slowly and peered his head in, face immediately falling at the sight of his wife crying on their bed, alone again.

"Hime... You're crying ag-"

"No!" She cried out, obviously sobbing. "I-I'm not..." Orihime could feel the bed creak and shift downwards, indicating her husband had taken a spot right next to her. His large hand rested on her belly and he snuggled his nose into the crook of her neck.

"Okay, Hime... You're not crying..." He went along with her, although he knew she was. Ichigo knew all about her frustrations and it was never, _never_ good to further rouse those feelings. Orihime sighed in a distressed tone, another sob echoing through the room. Ichigo rose his head slightly and kissed her on the cheek. "What's wrong?"

Orihime turned her head towards him, eyes glistening with tears. "I-I don't know... I-I'm just so..." She finished her sentence with a frustrated groan, more wet droplets falling from her beautiful eyes. Ichigo frowned and forced his lips towards her, giving her a hard kiss on her lips this time. Orihime squeezed her eyes together tight and groaned yet again. She pulled away, distress evident on her face.

"D-Do you love me??" She asked worriedly. Ichigo was taken aback by her alarming question.

"If course I do! Hime, I wouldn't have married you or be having a child with you if I didn't," he told her a bit too forcefully, causing another cry of sadness to pour from her lips. Orihime quickly brought her hands to her face, covering it up with shame. _Dammit!_

Prying her hands off her face, Ichigo sighed and told himself to calm down. "I know this is still weird to you, even after 6 months of being like this, but you're bound to be a bit emotional-"

"I-I'm not!"

"-Yes you are. But Orihime..." He forced her to look at him, his eyes a dark brown. "I will never, _ever _think you are a burden. I will never leave you or betray you. _You're_ the one I want to spend my life with." Orihime was about to respond with still hurt eyes, but he cut her off with a stern look, which immediately silenced her.

His face relaxed a bit and he placed a light kiss on her cheek while gently stroking her tummy. "So whatever thoughts you have that you are wavering about, _don't_ think about them. They're not true." Orihime just nodded dumbly and bit her bottom lip, her own heart still wavering. She trusted his man with her life, but she still held doubts for some reason.

_I-I guess I am emotional..._

Pulling her into a hug, Ichigo let Orihime cry for a bit longer, with strong hopes that she'd get over her worries soon.

And just like normal, she did.

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	24. Power Up

_Lol, I randomly wrote this up yesterday for the IchiHime FC at Bleach Asylum. The idea was if Orihime came back to KT, only... She wasn't exactly the same as Ichigo last left her. XD_

* * *

--  
Ichigo had wanted her to stay in Hueco Mundo, even though it only had bitter memories for them both. He had deemed it safer for her and she'd be less likely to get hurt. She also wouldn't see all the destruction to their hometown, regardless of the fact no living soul besides him and Aizen were in it.

But when he saw the garganta... His heart dropped down to his toes.

A flash of auburn immediately implied whom it was, and he wanted to quickly take her back through the garganta, all the while not trying to accidentally hurt her in any way. Considering her sleeves had been previously ripped and with the speed he wanted to get her out of there, no doubt he'd accidentally bruise her easily.

But it wasn't the previous white gown that she wore. It was a suit.

A spandex, skin-tight, _very_ revealing suit.

Ichigo swallowed thickly and felt his face heat up about a hundred degrees. She appeared to be looking for something, possibly him. Part of him _wanted_ it to be himself she was looking for, but he had to slap himself for thinking such a crude thought about his innocent friend.

"I-Inoue, w-what are you doing here??" He choked out, unable to keep his eyes on her face. They drifted southward, noticing her tight curves and suddenly larger chest. _Sweet mother of..._ Besides that thing she called clothes, she wore a smile.

"Kurosaki-kun, I'm so glad I found you!!" She cheered, throwing herself towards him. "Rangiku said I'd be able to help you by wearing this! Something about a power-up, I think..." Ichigo definitely didn't hear what she said since his brain automatically stopped once her soft breasts were pressed against his chest. He didn't know whether to grin stupidly or scowl at the woman's intentions.

_Power up indeed..._

"Ah, but I'll need your help getting this off once you're done defeating Aizen! This thing is so tight, I can't possibly do it myself..." Orihime pouted, making her already seductive appearance much more intolerable. Nodding dumbly, Ichigo raced off to the defeat the bad guy, in which he did so under five minutes.

Orihime also got the help she needed.  
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	25. Centerpiece

_A random crack idea of Ulquiorra and IchiHime... XD I know it's silly._

* * *

--

His hand twitched nervously, hovering just inches over the door to his friend's apartment. Inwardly, he wondered just why the hell he was so nervous. It wasn't like he hadn't been to her place before, but now... Swallowing hard, he definitely saw this time as much different compared to other times. Not to mention, he had come over here because he had wanted to tell her something he thought was really important.

Finally manning up, Ichigo rapped his hand against the wood door, a loud knock echoing on the veranda and into the night. He fidgeted in his place, shifting his weight from leg to leg. It was a moment later that Inoue Orihime opened the door, eyes wide with curiosity. Ichigo had to stop himself from blushing at the sight.

"Eh? Kurosaki-kun? What are you doing here so late?" She asked in that innocently sweet voice of hers, the one that gave him the shivers. Swallowing again, finding it hard to breathe, Ichigo let his eyes wander over her lean form, noticing she was no longer wearing her school uniform, but rather, she wore a light pink nightgown with a fluffy white robe untied and slightly slipping off her right shoulder. The sight of her pale skin caused a groan to reverberate through his chest and close his eyes, taking in a shaky breath.

_Maybe I shouldn't be here..._

"Kurosaki-kun? Ah, have the aliens stolen your brain??" Orihime started to worry, flailing her arms around wildly. He really wished she wouldn't do it as it caused things to... _move._

_No, I need to say this._

"C-Can I come in?" He inquired, forcefully telling himself he _didn't_ stutter. Orihime smiled that big, adorable of hers and let him in, her left hand pulling up that drooping sleeve. He took a cautious step into her flat, immediately greeted with her slightly sweet scent. The one he missed dearly when she had been taken away to Hueco Mundo. "Can I get you something to drink?" She asked, folding her hands together tightly, still smiling away. Ichigo shook his head, rejecting the offer.

"N-No, I'm here because I need to talk to you..." His words piqued her interest, her brows rising a bit. "Something important..." Nodding in understanding, Orihime pursed her lips, noticing his sudden seriousness.

"Would you like to sit down then?"

"No, I... I'm going to stand..."

Again, nodding in understanding, Orihime glanced at the nearby couch. Looking back to him, her eyes almost asked if she could at least sit down. With his importance he seemed to radiate, she wondered if it'd be better to sit for the news. He gestured for her to do so, and she did. Unfortunately for him, her nightgown rose up and exposed her thighs a bit more, causing his face to immediately flush up.

"I-Inoue, this is hard for me to say, b-but..." He coughed and cleared his throat, finding it terribly hard to collect his very scattered thoughts. "I-I wanted to say that lately, I seem to have found myself-"

He didn't stop because he didn't want to continue, but rather, he found something very interesting sitting on her table. It was a small jar that appeared to be filled with some gray powder. It looked familiar to him somehow, but he didn't know from where.

"Inoue... What's that?" Ichigo asked, pointing a shaky finger towards the Mason jar. Orihime looked back, her hair whipping around with her. Once seeing what he was questioning, she smiled and clasped her hands together, as if in glee.

"It's Ulquiorra's ashes!"

His face fell, jaw about dropping to the floor.

"W-What??" He looked back to the jar and suddenly felt so disgusted, along with disturbed. He dropped his hand immediately, feeling very defeated. Here he had come over to say his feelings as of late, and turns out she has the ashes of the enemy he defeated. Not to mention it was the time he turned into a monster for _her_.

"You want to see it?" She asked, standing up with a smile. Ichigo threw up his hands quickly.

"N-No!! In fact, I should really be going!!" He yelled out, his voice clearly distressed. He knew now for sure he really shouldn't have come. Her smile suddenly faded and she looked hurt.

"E-Eh? But you haven't told me those news..." She pouted, making her lips looking absolutely tempting. Forcing the idea of kissing her out of his head, he groaned and raked a hand through his thick orange locks.

"Just... never mind. Sorry I came over," Ichigo apologized, turning around to leave. His hand was positioned on the doorknob, ready to leave, when he looked back to say a few more words. Only, when he turned around, it wasn't the jar of Ulquiorra's ashes sitting on the table, it was Ulquiorra himself drinking tea at her table.

_W-What the fuck??_

Ichigo only turned around and proceeded to bang his head against the door, hoping it was all a dream.

It was.

He woke up, shaking with a cold sweat. His lean form had shot out of bed, frantic eyes darting around the room. Upon finding he was still in his own room, he let himself fall back against the bed, mattress squeaking under his weight.

He'd have to talk to Inoue tomorrow, he told himself. And with high hopes, she wouldn't have a jar of Ulquiorra's ashes on her table, acting as a centerpiece for her kitchen.

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	26. Kicking Equals Love

--

It was moments like these that he loved the most. To only be in her arms, no worries, no concerns. To him, it was only her and him in the world.

As Kurosaki Ichigo lie in the grass in the park, his head in the slightly swollen stomach of his wife, he couldn't help but allow his lips to curve upwards, absolutely enjoying the sound of her voice and mindless rambling. With her lower limbs extended outwards, he had nestled himself in the open space between her legs, arms slack against her uncovered and very smooth skin. His thumbs would gently stroke at the flesh as he wondered if she was blushing at all with his innocent act.

"And then Tatsuki-chan told me she was going to get an orange squid for Baby-san's room. I told her it was a great idea, since the nursery is going to be that orange color we both like," Orihime rambled, threading her thin, slender fingers through his bright orange locks. Her careful ministrations sent shivers through his body, regardless of her actions of naively massaging his skull and part of his neck. Truly this girl had a healing touch.

Ichigo hummed in response, indeed listening to her but was too tired to respond. Her actions were causing him to drift off into a half-sleep. Orihime, noticing his silence, decided to remain quiet and allow herself to sit in the comfortable silence, continuing her relaxation techniques. The wind and some children's faint laughter was the only thing being heard in the park.

"I love you, Ichigo..." She eventually whispered, her lips pulled into that gentle smile he himself fell in love with. Her kind words were enough to cause him to break from his slight slumber and open his eyes, gazing back into honest, glimmering brown ones. Smiling back to her, he nodded.

"I love you too, Hime," He responded in a tone just a notch quieter than hers. Lifting up a lazy hand, he grabbed at her neck and pulled her down, causing their lips to meet in a slow and tender kiss. The healer's cheeks grew hot, but she appreciated it anyways. The fact he could always make her feel as if she were flying, even after being together for so long, was a sure sign to her that they were meant to be.

Ichigo lazily continued to kiss her plump, pink lips, gaining more and more satisfaction that he loved and could be loved by such a wonderful woman, and actually be bearing a child with said woman as well.

Though just when Ichigo didn't expect it, he felt a hard smack to the back of his head from behind him, under his wife's stomach. Releasing her neck and snapping up from his resting position, he looked at the offending bump with fury soon racing through his blood.

"What the hell was that??" He questioned, pointing to it as if it just shot something. Orihime looked at it curiously, just as confused as he was. Placing her tiny hands on her rather large bump, she continued to feel it kick and beat at her from within.

"I think... it's kicking..." Orihime formulated an idea, her face very serious at first. But then, as if it hit her, she brought her head up with a bright, blinding smile. "I-Ichigo, Baby-san is kicking!!" The shinigami's jaw dropped, his anger suddenly subsiding. He had just yelled (and swore) at his child's small attempt to gain their attention. Cautiously, he brought his hand closer to her swollen stomach, hovering just above it as if he was wondering if it was really okay. Orihime must have been excited or impatient, but she took his hand and placed it on fabric of the shirt covering her baby bump.

And he felt it, soon feeling like he was on top of the world.

He felt his baby kick for the first time.

An immediate smile crawled onto his face and he brought both hands up, as if wanting to feel all and every kick and punch his unborn child would blow from the inside.

"Damn, it's moving a lot..." Ichigo spoke quietly but happily. He continued to grin like a kid in a candy store. "Definitely my kid, that's for sure." Orihime gently squeezed her hands that had been positioned over his, causing her husband to look up at her.

"To have Baby-san kick like that and act just as feisty as you..." She smiled, tears brimming her already beautiful eyes. "I wouldn't have it any other way." The boy she loved smirked in return, bringing his eyes back to the bump. Placing a sweet kiss in the center of her flesh, faintly feeling more kicks, he closed his eyes and exhaled shakily.

"And I feel exactly the same."

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	27. Time Too Fast

_Sorry for the crappy drabble and sorry for not posting anything lately. I'm sorta stuck in a writer's block. [/sulks] _

* * *

--

She figured time was like sand; always slipping through her fingers, passing by too fast.

A soft sigh escaped the healer as she fisted another handful of warm sand. It was so weird to be here. Not just the beach, per se, but outside of Hueco Mundo, away from Aizen and the rest of their foes. As her gray eyes fluttered closed for a short moment, a quick shudder ran through her body with her mind hastily replaying memories of pain, blood, and death. No matter how long it'd be or how much time would pass, she'd never forget the horrid things that happened.

Orihime looked towards the chilly waters again, releasing the sand from her hands and moving them to rest on her exposed thighs. Pursing her lips, she didn't quite know how she got persuaded to come here in the first place. She had been just fine in her apartment alone when a certain redheaded shinigami and her best friend showed up at her doorstep, one scowling with a blush and the latter with a coy smirk. It had all happened so fast, but here she was now; sitting on the white beaches of the nearby coast on a terribly hot July afternoon, clad in nothing but a pink bikini and a baseball cap. A hat that specifically belonged to said shinigami.

She could feel the blush creeping up as the memory of him giving it to her popped up again. He gave her a small smile, one of his unreadable ones, as he fitted the cap onto her head, telling her she should wear it so she doesn't burn. She could never tell him, but she was burning anyways. Not by a sunburn, however, but his constant kindness made her do nothing but blush.

Shaking her head of the heat in her cheeks, Orihime pulled her hair over her shoulders, exposing her back a bit more. Perhaps if she had more of her hair in front, she could hide the incredulously small swimsuit along with her red cheeks. Thank goodness she could say it was the heat that was bugging her if the question arose.

Her big gray eyes followed that familiar orange head, seeing him smile big as he and the others splashed in the water. Orihime couldn't help but smile a bit too at the heartfelt sight, happy to know he was more open since they got back. She wasn't completely sure of the reason why, but she assumed he maybe felt that it wasn't worth it to frown all the time. After all the hell they'd gone through, they knew it was better to live happily instead of go each day with a scowl apparent, always brooding over something.

As another sigh escaped her lips, Orihime brought up a hand to cheeks, resting her head on it as she continued to watch the Ryoka boy enjoy his day at the beach. Her own palm and digits could feel the flesh heating up again the more she watched him. She wanted to watch him have fun in all innocence, but the hat being a reminder of his kindness and the way his white T-shirt cling to his built form made her feel far from innocent.

_Why?_ She asked herself, glancing back down at her lap, fearing she'd have a nosebleed or something scandalous. _Why is it I fell for the most amazing guy in the world?_ Orihime pulled down the hat over her eyes, biting her bottom lip until it was tender. He was caring and kind, considerate, helpful, not to mention the scowl she always defined as cute. Orihime continued to list off his generous traits in her head, probably not helping her situation. Although she was so caught up in her own thoughts she didn't notice a friend come up to her and plop down onto the sand next to her. She jumped in her spot, startled as she held onto the hat as if it would keep her upright.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see... you..." Orihime stuttered at first, but ended up trailing off once she found out who it was.

With his small smirk, bright orange hair, and smoldering brown eyes, it was the substitute strawberry himself.

The healer felt her entire body burn this time around, not just her face, as she stared right into his eyes. Although she told herself she'd explode with heat if she didn't stop looking into his eyes, she couldn't pull away either. Crossing her arms over her chest, she suddenly felt much more self-conscious, especially of the particular swimsuit Tatsuki had picked out for her.

"Any reason you don't want to swim, Inoue?" Ichigo asked, breaking off the stare to grab the soaked hem of his shirt. It wasn't a second later that he pulled the shirt up and over his firm shoulders, yanking the drenched fabric off his form and into his hands, his midsection now shown for the world to see. Orihime's eyes grew wide at the scandalous sight and she forced herself to look the opposite way.

"N-No, not particularly..." She replied shakily, feeling her heart race. Part of her wondered if he did that to her on purpose, pulling off his shirt. Frowning to herself, she changed her mind and labeled it as wishful thinking instead. Why in the world would Ichigo want to take off his shirt in front of the girl he got hurt over? He was just doing it because he was warm.

"You're missing out then," he commented, crossing his legs as he wrung out the extra water in the cloth. "It's actually pretty refreshing, compared to sitting on the beach and cooking yourself alive." Orihime nodded, understanding his analogy perfectly. She definitely felt like she was baking herself by sitting on this warm beach. But what was her reasoning for not going in again? She couldn't remember.

She closed her eyes for a moment, lightly rubbing her hands over her upper arms as if cold of sorts. Perhaps she didn't go swimming because she felt like she'd drown. It wasn't that she was a bad swimmer, but that feeling of pressure and isolation from Hueco Mundo somehow managed to carry itself over here.

"You okay?" Ichigo inquired, breaking her from her thoughts again. Orihime glanced back up to him, all her embarrassment appearing to have gone away temporarily. She nodded, eyes quickly looking back away.

"I'm fine, Kurosaki-kun..." She told him, grabbing the nearby towel on her left side and handing it to him for use. "Just thinking, is all." Ichigo took the cloth away and began dabbing excess water droplets from his face, all while looking at her with curious eyes.

"You're thinking too much again, aren't you?" he asked in a matter-of-factly tone, a scowl showing up again. Orihime's cheeks burned as she looked away, knowing very well it was true. The time after they got back had been full of many more thoughts and feelings than she had before she left. But she remained silent, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. It's not like she wanted to do nothing but think and worry, but all the memories of Hueco Mundo left a bitter scar on her mind and it was very hard to erase the previous pain.

A silence swept over the two, the only sounds being the boy's towel. Watching her, he could tell she was distressed but refused to say it. Ichigo felt like some weird, deep understanding had passed between them after the Dome-incident, as he referred to it, but they hardly talked at all anyways. It was like their friendship changed, but at the same time, they were still distant. So all he could do was try to be there for her, maybe partially make up for scaring the living daylights out of her that fateful day on the top of Las Noches. Even if she verbally said she didn't want him around, he'd still be a bother and watch over her. He was just lucky she hadn't requested it.

Yet.

"Inoue."

"Hm?-AH!"

A weird noise escaped her when she tried to ask what it was he was trying to do, but he instead pressed his cold T-shirt to her bare back, making her squeak and flail in surprise. Her back arched forward while she looked at him with big eyes, cheeks clearly a vibrant red. He grinned boyishly, knowing just what trouble he caused.

"Enough mulling over whatever, it's time to swim," he told her, dropping the shirt and grabbing her hand instead, instantly pulling her up from her spot on the sand. She squeaked again as she was so easily pulled up, cheeks growing even hotter at the thought of how strong he was. Nervously, Orihime wrapped arms around her midsection while biting her lip again. She thought they'd just walk back down to the water together, but she wasn't entirely right. His familiar arm wrapped itself around her shoulders casually, the feeling of his warm skin on hers making her heart race even faster. Glancing up at him, eyes barely peeking out from under the hat, Orihime wondered just what he was thinking while he associated himself with her so nonchalantly like this. He just grinned at her again, pulling the hat up a bit to get a better look of her face.

"Ready?" He asked, his fingers absentmindedly twitching against her fair skin. The healer could only nod dumbly, unable to keep at least a small smile back.

"H-Hai..." She stuttered, relishing the feeling of him being so close. With a confirming nod of his own and a smirk, he started to guide her back to the waters, putting a hand in the air as to greet the others. Again, his kindness amazed her, always seeing his compassionate side. What surprised her even more was how he only seemed to be gentle like that around her. It made her feel special, in a way.

But as she glanced back up at the Ryoka boy, maybe she was. She hoped she was. But she knew it wasn't the end of the world if it wasn't. What really mattered to her the most were times like these, where she could be with him and everything would be _okay_, something very unfamiliar to all of them.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun..." She mumbled as they continued their way down the beach.

"Eh? For what?"

Giving him a bright smile, she spoke one word.

"Everything."

.

.

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	28. Dancing with Sanity

_Sorry I haven't been writing much of my fics lately. I've been sleeping like crap and it's been showing. Badly. XD On top of working on my Tanabata fic, which sorta has priority over the rest(since I have a deadline for that one), compared to the rest. Hopefully I should have at least one update soon-ish though. I've already started writing out Heartbeat on the computer and have a general idea for the next FHBB chapter._

* * *

There was always that quiet little place he loved to go to when things seemed stressful. Lush, green trees with some wildflowers, all on the peak of a cliff top, overlooking the beautiful city of Karakura. He, albeit reluctantly, occasionally used the same place for hollow patrol as well, watching the city from higher up.

But somehow, as he walked through the tall grasses towards his quiet spot to get away from it all, it didn't seem as nice and relaxing as it used to be. In fact, seeing bits and pieces of the place in view made his stomach twist and turn uncomfortably. Was it because when he came here this time, it wasn't the same circumstances as they used to be?

It was no more than a month after the Winter War, or rather, just the beginning of it. Aizen had retreated from Karakura back to Hueco Mundo, along with Gin, and more importantly, the fully awakened Hokyogu. With a fully injured league of Soul Society captains and a mentally broken substitute Shinigami, they were all in no way, shape, or form ready to go after Aizen and continue fighting. For now, they could only rescue the girl kidnapped in the first place and take her back home.

Ichigo could still remember when she, Ishida, and the other remaining friends and allies of his come out from the garganta. Neither could he forget the absolutely fatigued expression on her face, her dulled, but beautiful gray eyes never meeting his. The avoidance hurt, but it was to be expected after he turned into such a monster in front of her.

The _snaps_ of dead, fallen branches on the ground made him cringe, the noises reminding him of the stomach-churning sounds of his own bones being broken from the Espada. It seemed like no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, the screams from _her_ and her worry over him never left him. From the moment he woke up in the morning, even to his deepest sleep, haunting his nightmares, she'd be there, crying for help. Although it was always different, her pain and sadness was the core concept of his thoughts and dreams. Perhaps it was his subconscious way of telling himself he really did one hell of a job rescuing the girl.

A sigh escaped his slightly dried lips, forcing himself to keep his hands at his side instead of slapping them over his ears to drown out the cracks and creaks of the forest. Couldn't the world just shut up for a damn moment?

Furrowing his brows, Ichigo fisted his slightly shaking hands, trying to keep his breathing steady and his thoughts away from those god-awful memories of Hueco Mundo. They were bound to go back once Soul Society's captains recovered, so he really needed to get his act together and whip himself into shape. Not only did he be strong for himself, but he _really_ needed to be strong for _her._

As he took that last step closer to his secret spot, his eyes grew wide, at the sight in front of him. The said girl was sitting on the ledge of the cliff, her feet dangling off the edge. She wore what seemed to be an unusually large blue shirt, for her, which hung off one of her shoulders, with gray shorts hugging her hips. She hummed a small, somewhat sad tune as she sat, her small hands noticeably clutching the grass at her side.

"Inou-" Ichigo was about to call out questionably, but he stopped short once noticing her small, ample form stand up quickly, her steps staggering a bit in an unbalanced manner. However, once she regained her balance, her body seemed to suspiciously lean closer and closer to the edge of the cliff.

_S-She isn't... Is she?_

Ichigo was by her side instantly, grabbing her slim arm and pulling her back.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He quickly yelled at her, not so much concerned for her surprised state, but rather, her previous position to death. He went all the way to rescue her, even though his attempt resulted poorly, and she still wanted to throw herself off a cliff?

"K-Kurosaki-kun," she breathed, her eyes wide and staring into his. "I-I wasn't doing anything..." She told him, now glancing down to his hand held tightly against her upper arm. Orihime wanted to wince at the slightly painful pressure but she didn't want to alarm him any further.

"... You weren't going to jump?" He dumbly asked, bringing his tone down a bit. Orihime shook her head in response, taking her bottom lip between her teeth. She wasn't jumping, although the thought from him scared her. She was just standing up to stretch after sitting too long.

He released her arm, just now noticing how tightly he was holding her. The pink marks now on her arm didn't go unnoticed by Ichigo and he frowned, bringing the offending fingers to the darkening spot, touching at it gingerly. With fallen brows and dark eyes, he muttered a small apology.

Orihime looked at him with soft eyes, watching him look at her arm with such sorrow in his eyes. It was a miscommunication between the two, so why did he look so sad?

"...Are you alright, Kurosaki-kun?" She asked, her fingers itching to grab at his sleeve or something of the sorts, but she kept her hands at her side for the time being.

"I... I'm just fine..." He told her, although he was actually far from it. "I used to come here before... Well, you know..." He feared the name of _the_ place, origin of their horrid memories, would cause uncomfortable feelings again. "I just thought I'd come back for a bit, is all."

Orihime's lips puckered into a small pout, her skin still tingling from his earlier touches. "I didn't know this was Kurosaki-kun's place... Did you want me to leave?" She asked. He jumped in surprise of the question, shaking his hand as to say 'no'.

"N-No, it's alright. I just didn't know you knew of this place." Realizing his hand was waving frantically, his face reddened in color as he brought it to the back of his neck, kneading the muscles tenderly.

"I've never been here before, actually," Orihime told him truthfully, turning back around to sit on the ledge of the cliff again. Ichigo had to blink a few times and swallow thickly as he saw her in a new light, with the sunset outlining her form from the distance. Why was it she looked so pretty at this exact moment?

Ichigo took a seat next to her, staying a fair distance away, but keeping himself close enough as to make sure she wouldn't fall. Humming in response, his heart clenched oddly at the ideas of what he could say. This was the first time they'd met up since the day he walked her back to her apartment, the day Aizen returned back to Hueco Mundo.

"... Are you scared, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked quietly, noting a small daisy sitting next to her. Nonchalantly, she plucked it from the ground and twirled it in her hands, mostly as a means of hiding the otherwise visible shake in her hands.

"Huh?" He asked in return, not understanding her question. He heard her clearly, but there were many things he was scared of. The big thing being her leaving again, although he'd never admit it to her.

"N-No, never mind," she suddenly blurted out, her voice sounding strained.

"No... What is it?" Ichigo asked again, albeit more softly and slowly. She inhaled shakily for a moment before turning her head to look at him with tear-glistening eyes, the gray showing multitudes of emotions.

Hunching her shoulders, causing the one sleeve to slide down further, Orihime couldn't help but stifle a sob.

"W-What are we going to do?" She inquired, her voice low and almost completely quiet. "Aizen's still out there..." Ichigo fisted his hands at his side, wanting to reassure her somehow, but this person was one who deserved the truth, no matter how brutal it may be.

"I'll defeat him, Inoue," Ichigo told her sternly, looking at the small flower in her hands instead of her directly. "Then you'll be safe." Orihime let out a dry chuckle as a few tears dripped from her chin.

"That's not my concern, Kurosaki-kun..." She told him half-jokingly, a sad smile creeping onto her lips.

"Then what is?"

Ichigo finally met his gaze with hers and his heart skipped a beat at the oddly electrifying connection when they looked at each other. His heart was already aching at her sobbing form and now her confusing, yet understandable eyes made his heart race even more.

"I'm scared for you..." She whispered softly, her fingers stopping their twirling and now sitting in her lap, visibly shaking. "I-I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt that bad again." Her words were bold, but with all they've gone through and what they were bound to overcome, such things seemed meaningless now.

Ichigo's eyes widened at her statement, surprised she was so concerned for him. He knew she cared for him as a good friend would, but that sentence alone made his heart flutter with some relief. Somehow managing to give her a half-smile, the shinigami took the flower from her hands, holding it in his own for a brief moment.

"I'll be fine," he told her reassuringly, bringing his opposite hand to her hair and brushing bits of it behind her ear. "You'll be fine," he continued as he tucked the said flower behind said ear with both hands. As he pulled away, he could see her innocently big eyes look up to him in confusion with flushed cheeks and he wanted to smile bigger.

"We'll get through this, I promise you that."

And this time, Ichigo felt like his words would actually come through. He'd made empty promises to people before to reassure them, but this time around felt so true and it lightened his mood significantly.

"But Kurosaki-kun-" Orihime began to protest but a gentle warning glare from the Ryoka boy caused her to stop and blush harder. He didn't know what had gotten into him, but before he knew it, his arm had hooked around her form, hand brushing across her exposed shoulder for a quick moment. Pulling her close, he allowed her to rest on him for a while, perhaps use him as a tissue of sorts while she cried. At least, he hoped she would verbalize her concerns now that they appeared to be on better footing now.

"It'll be okay," he told her, off-handedly taking in the sweet vanilla scent from her hair as he spoke. "The good guys always win, don't they?"

Orihime managed to giggle a bit at his words while grasping at his shirt tightly. Her heart was soaring with happiness because he was being so kind and gentle with her, but still deep inside her, she still felt regret over what happened on the dome.

"I suppose they do..." She replied quietly, sniffling away a few tears.

"Tch, 'I suppose'? Don't you have any faith?" Ichigo joked again, hoping to hear her tinkling laughter once more. She did, and he smiled a bit bigger, tightening his hold on her. He could definitely get used to this; her comforting presence and ability to make him forget the bad things.

"I have the utmost faith in Kurosaki-kun."

"That's better."

"... You'll win then... I know you will."

Leaning his head lightly on top of hers, his smile faded a bit and he scowled at the quick thought of the battle to come.

_For you, anything._

_._

_._

_.  
_


	29. Apple Pie

It was always different, that flavor of hers. Some days it was fruity, and some days it was something of her own creation. The latter tended to make him sick, however.

Luckily for Ichigo, today was a fruity day, although he couldn't figure out for the life of him what the damn flavor of the day was.

The Ryoka boy nibbled at his girlfriend's lips, brows slanted in a confused expression. She tasted delicious on these particular days, those fruity ones. Granted, this girl could be defined as fruity as well, given her less than normal nature.

"Dammit, what is it?" He grumbled over her lips, his hot breath fanning her fair skin. He met his lips with hers, a deep groan reverberating in his chest at the softness of them. No matter how many times he kissed her, he'd never grow tired of the pliability of her lips and the softness of them all. He always, _always_ wanted to kiss those amazing lips silly until they were swollen and red.

"Hm... What's what, Ichigo-kun?" Orihime chimed in, speaking between his fervent kisses. Ichigo brought his hands to her neck, parting the honey-colored hair that flowed over her shoulders. With the newly exposed skin, Ichigo took the opportunity to plant butterfly kisses along the flesh, hearing her breath hitch at every contact.

"Your taste..." He groaned, not liking how he had to waste time asking about her 'flavor of the day' when he could be kissing her. "I can't figure out what it is." Ichigo could feel a small giggle course through her body and he darted his tongue out to lap at her fine skin. There too was the unfamiliar fruity taste.

Orihime remained quiet and smiled as she threaded her dainty fingers through his coarse locks, taking in his own spicy scent as well. Holding him closer as he ravaged her neck, the healer knew she'd _never_ get tired of his smell, his feel, his _everything. _

A quick gasp escaped her as Ichigo bit down on her neck, his tongue darted out to soothe the newly bitten spot. One of his favorite pastimes was to mark her as his, mainly to show those other guys that ogled her that she was taken. Although, unfortunately for him, Orihime protested with a blush that she hide the markings and wore turtlenecks for a week.

"So what is it?" He inquired in that low, sultry voice of his. One of his hands traveled to the small of her back, pulling her tiny body closer on his, her legs straddling the hard angles of his waist. The other drifted towards the crown of her head, his fingers lightly threading themselves through her hair and tenderly massaging her head. The feeling of his burning hands made her throw back her head and part her lips, where a soft moan escaped her. Taking advantage of the offering of her neck, Ichigo latched his lips on the skin again, pressing harder kisses on the flesh.

"A... Ah...." She garbled her words, her mind too fuzzy to coherently form the word she wanted to say. If only he would stop kissing her the way he did for just a moment, she could tell him. But on the other hand, he was so good at what he did, she really, _really_ didn't want him to stop either.

"Ah's not a word, Hime..." Ichigo responded lowly, bringing his lips back up to hers for a hard kiss, his tongue invading the recesses of her mouth. Orihime, in response, gripped his hair tighter and pulled him even closer, her breasts pushing up against his hard chest.

"A-Apple..." She managed to choke out, her breath coming out in unusual pants. "I-It's apple..."

_Hm... Apple..._ _Not too bad at all..._

_._

_._

_.  
_


	30. Secret Words for Secret Lovers

_So... TIRED. I've still been working on my Tanabata fic, so sorry again for the lack of updates on my stories. Aaaand sorry for this fail here, because I'm so tired it didn't really turn out right, haha. Whoops._

* * *

How she had gotten so incredibly lucky, she'd never know.

As Orihime lay on the perfectly sculpted chest that belonged to her husband, her cheeks gradually increased in color. Her dainty fingers travelled slowly over the lines and contours of his form, eyes fluttering closed once in a while. She could hear a soft beating in his chest, reminding her of a gentle melody of sorts.

Even now she wished she knew what he saw in her. She didn't have much to give him; only her love. But he seemed to accept it and her just for what it was. As her lashes fluttered closed, she could still remember his gentle smile and open arms, his exact words still warming her heart now as well.

_It doesn't matter what you are or aren't... I love you because you're_ you.

Orihime's cheek lay flatter on his flat chest as her face burned brighter, her heart only floating higher and higher with good feelings the longer she was in his presence. His hand laced around her waist didn't seem to help much either.

"... Aishiteru... Ichigo..." She whispered softly, her hand carefully traveling to meet his own, intertwining their fingers together. Even in his sleep, he still managed to latch onto it and hold it close. A warm smile erupted on her face as she snuggled closer, taking in his spicy scent.

But as she did so, his hand on her waist twitched before moving upwards towards her head. His hand held the base of her neck and pulled her closer to plant a kiss on her forehead. He wasn't awake before, but he was certainly awake now. If it weren't for her small words, he would still be snoozing away.

"Aishiteru yo, Orihime..."

.

.

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	31. Fairytale

_Sorry! Still working on my Tanabata fic! Almost 10,000 words and I'm pretty sure I'm just about half done. [/facepalm] This is going to be so freaking long!_

* * *

He couldn't calm himself down. What reason was there to anyways? The friend he followed to Hueco Mundo and back was now contained in Central 46, put on trial to determine whether she was a traitor or not.

Her actions of leaving for Hueco Mundo willingly were considered traitorous.

However, her actions of rejecting the Hokyogu and assisting in the death of Aizen Sosuke were considered heroic.

So Kurosaki Ichigo sat just outside the gates of Central 46, blatantly ignoring the constant stares of the guards. He didn't give a damn about others, even if he was the one to deliver the final blow to their enemy. Aizen didn't see her rejection coming and lost immense power due to its disappearance. Luckily he had been able to get him, striking Zangetsu straight through his heart. Even now he could still remember his warm blood travelling down his hands as he forced himself to keep the blade in place.

Now wherever he walked, he was recognized as the hero of Soul Society. His friends had all been awarded with medals and honors for helping in the immanent destruction of Aizen. That is, all except one.

Inoue Orihime.

Had she not gone to Hueco Mundo under the pretense that she went because she wanted to, she would've been given the same honors. But such was not the case and now she was literally faced in a life or death trial. As much as Ichigo wanted to burst through the Central 46 doors and take her away from Soul Society, away from the possibility of death, he couldn't. At least not without her getting a higher chance of execution.

Swallowing thickly, the Ryoka boy let his eyes close, but he couldn't rest nor relax. Not until she was really safe, he wouldn't rest. It wasn't like he could anyways; not with her in his dreams, no, nightmares every night. He knew she would never say those things when he was awake, but every time he was haunted with her tears and pleas for him to help her, or asking why he didn't rescue her.

Clenching a fist, Ichigo choked back a groan. He really wasn't faring well and he wanted to get the hell out of here, with her of course. He made the mistake of leaving her where she went to Hueco Mundo; he wouldn't make the same stupid mistake again.

But another question arose as he pondered to himself: What would they do when they got back to Karakura? Things obviously couldn't go back to normal, whatever the hell that was, and he certainly couldn't just treat Inoue like a typical friend. She just _wasn't_ that kind of friend anymore. Whether it was fear bonding them together now or something greater, he didn't know. He just hoped it wouldn't be the former, not wanting her to think she had to be friends with him because he had a hollow that could come out and kill anyone and anything without warning.

God, his hollow... He still didn't have control over it, even after they returned to Soul Society. His mask was still as heavy as ever and the darker reiatsu of his hollow's mixed with his own, oddly making him and his surroundings feel a lot heavier. Sighing, he was still surprised Inoue didn't freak out when she saw it. Sure, he was still disheartened at her fear during his battle with Grimmjow, but he _was_ a monster and she was right to be afraid like that.

But on the other hand, he was inwardly _really_ glad she didn't push him away. She wasn't that kind of person in the first place, but it was reassuring to know he would have at least one good friend that would always follow him. _Hm..._ Now that he thought about it more, she always seemed to follow him, unyielding, loyal... She really was always there for him... And he wasn't.

A creak of the large gate doors squeaked out, causing the resting guards to snap up and salute whoever was coming up. Ichigo rose to his knees as well, trying his best to keep them from shaking. It was hard to breathe as he desperately hoped it would Inoue walking out, preferably without other guards watching over her. If such was the situation, that would mean she was a free woman. His stomach flipped in anticipation at the idea.

Her familiar auburn hair was the first thing to come into sight for him. His breathe got caught in his throat as he watched her small form walk out the large doors. When she went in earlier, she wore a white kimono with chains around her wrists, definitely a sight that made him sick to his stomach. But now she wore a looser sundress that ended inches above her knees and held up by thin white spaghetti straps. Adorning her feet were matching white flats, much better than her bare feet when she went in earlier. They figured if she was a "traitor", she didn't deserve to be dressed otherwise.

Ichigo wanted to take a step closer to her, relieved, but his knees refused to budge and he felt stupid for being unable to take at least one measly step closer. She looked around for something, most likely him, her dainty hand raised above her eyes to shield the sun. A moment later she found him and a warm smile grew on her face.

No words were said as she stepped closer to him, hands folding together behind her back. Ichigo wanted to smile, frown, grow angry, maybe even cry all at once, but he clenched his hands into fists and told himself to get serious.

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime spoke softly in that sweet voice of hers. Even her melodious voice alone warmed his heart.

"Hey... Inoue," Ichigo barely managed to get out, now feeling the smile tug at the corner of his lips. "So you're..." She nodded for him, silently finishing his sentence while her smile grew wider.

"I'm innocent," she told him still in that quieter voice. Bringing up a hand to brush back some stray auburn tendrils, her cheeks sported a faint blush. "I-I get to go home..." Tears started to sting at her eyes, truly feeling happy and at ease. Ichigo's smile stretched wider, feeling the same happiness she was. The only thing he disagreed with was her 'I'm innocent' remark. Despite what Soul Society and others thought, she'd _always _been innocent. There was no before and after crap.

He raised his hand to meet hers, the one tucking her hair behind her ears, and tugged her fingers lightly. Orihime opened up her eyes further, despite the tears, and looked at him curious, but still immensely relieved.

"Let's go home, Inoue," he spoke gently, making sure he was holding onto her hand tight. It was almost as if he was telling her, 'I'm not letting go of you again'. She blushed a bit further and glanced down to his hand before looking back up to him with a genuine smile.

"U-Uhn!"

Perhaps he wasn't always there for her like she was for him, but he'd make sure he would be from here on out.

.

.

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	32. The Art of Nightmares

_Prompt thanks to Copper... Still got two more to do, but I'll get to them tomorrow. But yeaaah, I finished my Tanabata story so I can officially start back up with Heartbeat, Long Way Down, FHBB, and... I suppose I should continue with Just A Coincidence, huh? Well... Maybe after I finish a few of my others. Eh, we'll see... So yeah - Drabbles first so I can get assimilated back into different writing than my 25k word tanabata entry. [/facepalm] Soooo long, boo hoo!_

_Also, I had written a good majority of this out, but my computer ended up exploding and shutting down on me (overheating while importing some CDs... I was wondering when it was going to happen.) So unfortunately, this didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. :/ Oh well.  
_

* * *

**.slap**

Her gray eyes darted around the room as she yelled out into the dark. Screaming, all Orihime could do as her small hands clutched tightly at her auburn locks.

Blood. Why couldn't she get over the blood?

Images of Kurosaki Ichigo being blasted with a Cero repeated itself in her head, over and over again. His bright red blood spilled from his chest and his eyes grew wide and blank. Even now her heart sank with the thoughts of his death and how she was the cause of it.

Just then, a tall male teen blasted through the door of her bedroom. She shouldn't have been surprised since she knew he was staying over, but he half-expected him to walk in with that ridiculously-sized hole in his chest, blood everywhere as he extended his hand. "Your... fault," he would utter in that sickly voice.

She let out another shriek as his familiar voice called out her name.

"N-No, I didn't mean to!" Orihime yelled back, fat tears running down her cheeks. Her hands dropped from her hair to her cheeks, clutching them just as tight to leave indentations and marks on her frail skin. The tears irritated her and she felt even weaker for crying. Why had she called out to him when he was clearly dead?

"Inoue!" Ichigo called again, this time grabbing at her wrists to prevent her from scratching herself further. In time, she began thrashing about, kicking and screaming for this stranger to release his hold on her.

She was too enthralled with her nightmares to clearly see it was Ichigo trying to help her. He had to wince a bit at her surprisingly powerful kicks but he wouldn't yield. This had been the third night in a row he's been over to watch her and every time she'd try to unintentionally hurt herself.

Although he couldn't help but grip her wrists tighter, he would soon find doing that was a mistake. Orihime, in a quick motion, managed to pull her hand from him and raise it above her head to then bring it back down and hit the person near her.

_SLAP._

The loud noise resounded through the room as all else quieted, the only noises being her soft sniffling and sobs. Ichigo had to reluctantly let go of her completely to gingerly touch his tender wound on his face. He had been cero'ed, cut, and stabbed, but never had he been touched by Inoue Orihime.

Glancing his brown eyes back, his heart did weird flips and turns and he felt like shit for letting her go through all this alone. But her smile when Aizen was first killed made everything seem okay; made it seem like _she_ was okay.

How wrong he was. Now she had nightmares every night and he and Tatsuki took turns staying at her place to snap her out of them. They thought it might've been post-traumatic stress disorder. Such an innocent girl like her exposed to the dangers and horrors of war and bloodshed must've taken a humongous toll on her.

Quickly, Ichigo grabbed at her wrists again and instead of just holding them like last time, he pulled her close and eventually wrapping his arms around her midsection. Squealing in fright, she tried to beat her tiny fists against his chest. He could only close his eyes and take this pounding. If it weren't for him and his constantly leaking reiatsu, she wouldn't be in such a state in the first place.

Eventually she slowed and quieted down, the only sounds in the room being her soft sobs and hiccups. He tried to pat her back and whisper words of reassurance into her ear. "It's okay," he told her calmly, trying to remain neutral himself. "It'll all be okay."

Pulling herself away painfully slow, Orihime managed to look up at him with surprisingly big eyes, tears brimming the edges.

"Kurosaki... kun?" She called out quietly, her voice breaking from the previous strain. "D-Did I..." He didn't need her to finish understanding. He just nodded grimly and released her from his hold. As much as he hated that new chilly emptiness caused from her lack of presence, he had to remind himself she was _Inoue_. He couldn't just approach her so casually.

Perhaps he thought it was because she was so distant or he wasn't worthy of her.

She bit her bottom lip and scrunched her eyes again, glistening tears showing once again. "O-Oh, I'm so sorry..." Orihime mumbled again, fisting her nightgown in her hands. "I-I'm such a burden and I just c-can't seem to forget what happened." She sobbed, letting tears fall down from her chin. "I'm so stupid and-"

Within a second, Ichigo had taken her cheeks in his hands instinctively and forced her to look at him directly. She had been looking at her lap while crying and the more she degraded herself, the worse he felt.

"Don't you _dare_ say that," he warned in a gentle tone, brows furrowing in angst. "You're not stupid and you're not a burden." Her eyes seemed to grow a bit wider and cheeks flushed a light pink at the new closeness. "So don't you day that about yourself, because you're _so_ much more than that." His breath trailed over her skin and she found herself blinking slower and slower with each passing moment.

"K-Kurosaki-kun..."

Giving her a tried smile, he unintentionally began to rub at her cheeks with his thumbs. "You went through a lot... No one's expecting you to get through it so fast." Finding his own lids growing heavy, he subconsciously seemed to grow closer to her. "Just take your time, okay?"

Nodding subtly, Orihime let her eyes flutter closed while the Ryoka boy in front of her finally brought his lips to meet with hers. It was clumsy and sort of off, but that was to be expected from their first kiss. Even her cheeks grew hotter at the thought of this new 'first'.

But she smiled into it anyways, letting her hands go back up to grip his T-shirt.

Maybe, just maybe... She could really get through this.

.

.

.


	33. Little Cries I

**.mattress**

Being a close to a complete nine months, she couldn't do much without being out of breath pretty darn fast. So Orihime sat on her side of the bed in their lovely little white bedroom, eyes fluttering closed.

She had gotten pretty tired from walking earlier and tried to sit for a moment when her husband courted her to their bedroom to nap. She tried to refuse but he even threatened to pick her up and carry her there. Worrying he'd throw his back out at her weight, the healer pouted instead and shuffled her own feet there.

She sighed as her hand drifted over her swollen tummy, almost searching for signs of kicking or pounding from within. Upon finding nothing, Orihime could only assume her baby was napping, or trying, just like she was. It was a week from her due date and there had been no signs of the small child she carried wanting to leave.

But a small smile crept onto her face at the thought. What would their baby look like? The mom-to-be dearly hoped it would have its father's blazing orange. The idea of having his eyes made her grin wider in excitement. A bright-haired, brown-eyed baby was something she'd always dreamed of.

It would be like having a miniature version of her own Ichigo. This child could also stand as an example of what her husband looked like as a baby himself. Goodness knows Isshin had tried to show her pictures before but the albums would always be slammed away by the strawberry himself.

Orihime remembers pouting that particular day, asking why she couldn't see his adorable pictures. Ichigo just flushed and told her if they weren't full of embarrassing and compromising pictures, he definitely would. Later that evening, Isshin would whisper to her that they were his potty-training pictures and photos of him as a toddler, butt-naked in the backyard.

Giggling, she ran her hand over his stomach again finding the idea of it absolutely adorable.

"I thought you were supposed to be sleeping," her husband commented from the doorway. "I come in instead and find you giggling away." Opening her eyes again, she found him with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Apparently he wasn't too thrilled that she wasn't resting like she was supposed to be.

"I tried," she honestly told him, letting her lids flutter closed again. "I'm very sleepy and would very much like to rest."

"So why haven't you fallen asleep?"

Cracking a silly grin with her eyes closed, Orihime stifled a small laugh. "Have you tried sleeping with 40 pounds on your front side, squishing your organs?" She hadn't seen him move, but now she could feel the bed creak under his weight at his new spot towards the end. He took her small feet into his lap and patted them lightly.

"Yeah, a few times," he retorted in a sarcastic manner. "Actually, it was a lot more if I recall." He had her interest now and she cracked open her eyes to look at him quizzically. Since when did he have that much weight on him before?

"You're not pregnant too, are you?" She asked completely innocently, bewildered as to what was so heavy on him before. Rolling his eyes, Ichigo shook his head.

"Not another person like _that_," he told her dryly. "_You're_ the weight that's slept on top of me before." His little comment soon had the healer's cheeks flushed and brows furrowed. Wriggling her feet around, she tried to fight back a bit without hurting him at all.

"Mou, if I was so heavy, you should have told me!" Orihime pouted, tears oddly brimming her eyes. He gave her a faint smile and began to rub her feet.

"I never said I disliked it," he responded in a low tone, the smile brewing into a smirk as teasing thoughts came into his head; ones he could use to make her blush harder.

"... Still... I shouldn't be sleeping on you," she averted her eyes as she spoke, her face growing pinker. "I could accidentally squish you."

"You of all people couldn't squish me," Ichigo said in a coy voice, his eyes growing unsuspectingly dark. "Besides... I like it when you're on top." His little comment made her snap her eyes back to his with her cheeks turning a dark red.

"I-Ichigo-kun!"

He just smirked away at how easy she was to tease. It was something he'd never grow tired of.

"A-Ah, e-excuse me!" Orihime suddenly blurted out, rolling over towards the edge to get herself off the bed. Such a big belly proved such actions to be difficult and she groaned in irritation.

"Again?" He asked, getting up himself to help her off the mattress. She just nodded quickly and took his hand, knowing her time would be minimal.

"Y-Yup! Just another example of Baby-san squishing my organs!" The healer responded as she waddled off to the nearest bathroom. Sure, she felt embarrassed for having to cut such a sweet moment between her husband and herself to use the facilities, but he always seemed to understand. There _was_ that one family gathering at his father's house in which she used the restroom seven or eight times in an hour.

Although as Orihime resembled that of a duck as she made her way to the opposite room, she halted midway between the doorways, a fearful look on her face as she uttered,

"Uh oh..."

Ichigo looked up and noticed a new, very soaked pile on their carpet between her legs. Cringing, he groaned. She really didn't just have an accident, did she?

"I-Ichigo-kun..." Orihime's tears watered as she glanced back at him and he couldn't help but frown disdainly at her predicament.

"It's okay; I'll help clean it up..." He groaned again, pushing himself off the mattress.

"N-No, it's not that!" She suddenly cried, turning around as she clutched her stomach with wide eyes.

"Then what is it?"

"... I-I think my water just broke."

.

.

.


	34. Bottle It Up

**.kicking a chair**

Growling in his own disgust, the redheaded shinigami sat in his spot. The classroom was empty yet he still remained. The soft light from nearing dusk fluttered throughout the room, occasionally blinding the death god.

Scowling to himself, Ichigo kept a straight stare at the black board. There wasn't anything particular he watched, but he more or less zoned out while remaining stuck in his thoughts.

He had walked his healer friend for a few days now, just to make sure she got home okay, and he wasn't planning on stopping just because she had handicrafts club this week. So all he could do was wait for her until she showed up.

It wasn't that he was angry at her lack of presence, rather, he was irritated with just how much he found himself needing it. Once they returned to Karakura and all started to settle back to a sense of normalcy, Ichigo found himself thinking about the gentle healer more and more. He also started craving her touch, whether it be a brush of their arms or a tap on the shoulder.

He wasn't as oblivious as people thought he was. He had an idea of Orihime's feelings for him. At first they seemed suspicious, but upon coming back to school and Karakura, he mentally questioned the fervency of her actions. Why was he the only person she visited before leaving? Couldn't she have called for Ishida on the dome? Although his stomach churned uncomfortably at that particular memory, it was an event he couldn't let pass.

He could remember vague things, the fighting portions still fuzzy in his mind. However, parts relating to the healer were as clear as day. Her screams, calling his name, his promise to help her all was fresh in his head as if they had just happened yesterday.

Shaking his head, Ichigo had to ignore the dull burning in his cheeks as he told himself to let go of it. If Orihime appeared she could do it, then so could he.

Rising from his chair, the Ryoka growled in disgust at the _doki doki_ of his heart and already brewing feelings. As far as he knew, he shared somewhat similar feelings about her. But how could he tell her?

Scratch that. Should he even tell her at all?

"Fuck this!" Ichigo yelled out at nothing, kicking a nearby chair with his powerful foot. "Just how the hell am I supposed to tell Inoue I like her!"

The clatter of the chair rang throughout the classroom, however, that wasn't the only noise. The soft slide of the door broke through Ichigo's heavy panting and irritation as he darted his eyes towards the entrance. What he would find sent his heart to his toes and the color drained from his face.

"Kurosaki... kun?"

.

.

.


	35. She's a Beautiful Mess

**.finger  
**

"Oh poo..." Orihime pouted as she looked at her slender finger, her heart temporarily dropping with disdain. Somehow she had gotten quite of peanut butter stick to her digit and she didn't know why (although the cause was probably from her wasabi and peanut butter sandwich, more of the latter spread on the pieces of bread than the former.)

"What's up?" Ichigo inquired, glancing over his shoulder and away from his book to look at his girlfriend. She seemed to have crumpled into a small ball and the new mess upon her finger.

"My finger's all sticky," she whined lightly, showing it to him by nearing it to his face. He had to back away a bit otherwise his nose would be covered in the stuff as well.

"Do you need a napkin?"

Shaking her head, a small smile crept to her face as an idea brewed in her head.

"No, I'll just lick it off," she told him as she brought the peanut butter-covered digit to her mouth. Apparently Ichigo had a similar idea as he quickly took her wrist and immediately popped the finger into his own mouth.

A noticeable blush rose to the healer's cheeks from him doing such a lewd, but quite curious, action. And in public no less!

"K-Kurosaki-kun, I-I don't know if this is a good idea..." She mumbled, her eyes never averted his. His amber brown irises flashed a dark color and the girl shuddered with interest. She could feel his tongue running over her skin and the soft flesh of his lips puckered around one of her knuckles. Orihime had to hold back a darker blush and bite her bottom lip to keep from strange noises from escaping.

"K-Kuro... saki..."

Regardless of her small protests, Ichigo continued his small ministrations. Sure, he thought this was sort of a turn-on for himself, but he more or less wanted to tease her. He _loved_ to see her turn that dark red.

Lightly scraping his teeth across the finger in his mouth, he let a small smirk show on his lips as he felt the peanut butter and bit of wasabi invade his mouth. It was an interesting flavor, but he assumed chocolate could be better. After all, it _was_ his favorite taste.

Letting the digit fall from his lips, he looked up at her and grinned.

"Better?"

She could only nod briefly as she turned dark red, soon swiping her finger around the edges of her sandwich again to get more on her finger. It wasn't a second later she shoved the coated digit towards him again with a shameful blush on her cheeks and eyes glancing away.

She was a mixture of shy and coy, and he absolutely loved that about her.

.

.

.


	36. Little Cries II

_Lol, this was so craaaappy and it never ended! Oh well... Hopefully people like this though. XD And the name was just random, lol. Pay no mind to it._

* * *

"Fuck..."

"Ichigo-kun?"

"We're so fucked..."

"Ichigo-kun."

"Goddamn it, can't it take any fucking slower?"

"Ichigo!"

"What?" He half-yelled, half-spat as he turned around, eyes blazing with angry. Orihime unintentionally flinched back while grasping at her oversized belly. Ichigo saw this and felt the color drain from his face at the fact he scared his wife. The same wife in labor with their child, he might add.

"Please calm down?" She mumbled quietly, letting her fingers rove over her swollen stomach as means of distracting herself. He looked at her as if she was crazy for a quick moment before letting out a sharp breath, moving behind her to take her shoulders and move her to a seat.

"In case you haven't noticed, you're in fucking labor."

"Oh, I have. I'm the one actually having Baby-san, you know?"

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo started to wonder if she somehow inherited bits of his sarcasm.

"Yes, thank you Hime. I haven't noticed," he replied just as dryly, making her sit down. Gruffly sighing again, he tried to force a reassuring smile to her. "I just don't know what's taking so long. Did everyone else just decide to go into labor the same moment you did?"

"Eh? Orihime?" Another girly voice called out as the woman herself sat down in the chair with the help of her husband. Orihime looked towards the entrance of the emergency room to find a smaller woman with jet black hair accompanied with a much larger man with blazing red hair.

"K-Kuchiki-san?" Orihime cried, very much surprised at the sudden visitor. Ichigo snapped his head to the same direction, heart sinking as he mentally prayed that Rukia really wasn't there with them. But lone behold, there they stood with big grins and waving arms. Ichigo quickly told his wife to stay put before stomping over to the pair.

"What the hell are you two doing here? Can't you see Orihime's in fucking labor?" Ichigo screeched, paying no mind to the other patients around. Renji whistled as he crossed his arms, a sneer growing on his features.

"I still can't believe you had the guts to knock her up," he teased, glancing over the Ryoka's shoulder to glance at the woman herself. "Wow, she looks like a boat."

"Shut up, Renji! And don't you _dare_ say that about her, she looks fine!" Mentally, he had to agree that Orihime indeed did gain weight over the past nine months, but he had to remind himself she was bigger because of a child, not because of how much she ate (although he would still love her no matter what size she was).

"Ano, I like to think I'm more of a duck, Abarai-kun," her familiar voice called out from behind Ichigo, causing the orange-headed shinigami to snap back around and look incredulously at his wife.

"What the hell are you doing up?" He cried back, taking her hands in his for use as additional support if she needed. "You should be sitting!" Orihime pouted and stomped her foot lightly, growing a bit irritated with how she was being herded to the chairs.

"Mou, I'm okay Ichigo-kun!" Orihime huffed, holding her belly again. "I don't need to keep sitting and-" All of a sudden, she stopped and groaned in pain, clutching her stomach tighter. "O-Owww," she moaned, feeling her legs buckled underneath her.

"S-Shit! See, this is why you should be sitting down!" Ichigo cursed, mainly angry at himself for not taking better care of her.

"And you really should stop yelling at her," Rukia scoffed as she hastily wheeled over to Orihime, making sure she rammed him in the shins first with the contraption, making him howl out in pain. "She's giving birth to your child!"

"D-Dammit, Rukia!"

Orihime collapsed right into the chair, her face scrunched into pain as she bit her lip to hold back moans and groans of pain.

"Kurosaki Orihime?" A nearby doctor called out from the emergency room doors. Although in pain, Orihime could never get used to people referring her as "Kurosaki" rather than "Inoue". Ichigo let out another swear before grabbing the handles of the wheelchair and beginning to move his wife to the back rooms.

"That's us!" He called out, still trying to ignore the dull throbbing in his shin from the earlier ramming of Rukia's. Speaking of Rukia, it only took a second to figure out both shinigami were tagging along behind Ichigo. He had to stop and glare at them, anger recoiling through his body at the lack of order with all this. "You two need to stay in here!"

"But we've never experienced a live birth before!" Rukia protested, crossed her arms over her chest. "Being a shinigami, we only see death, not birth!" Ichigo had to throw his hands over her mouth to shut her up.

"S-Shut up! People don't know you're a you-know-what!" He whispered harshly.

"A finagami?" The small woman mumbled through his hands, raising her hands to slap away his own.

"Yes! That!"

"I-Ichigo-kun..." Orihime moaned from behind him, immediately sending guilt through his system. He pivoted again to find his wife going through another small contraction with a doctor looking at him with disappointment.

"Are you coming or not, Kurosaki-san?" She asked irritably. He nodded dumbly and quickly looked back at the two behind him. For once in his life, he'd have to beg them for something. And begging wasn't something he particularly wanted to do with these two.

"I swear, you two can see the baby later, but for the love of god, _please stay here right now_."

Rukia sneered, an expression Ichigo found suspicious, and she nodded. "Okay, Ichigo. We'll be here until you come out with the baby." Renji nodded in compliance, smiling just the same as Rukia. Still feeling uncomfortable from their expressions, Ichigo swallowed thickly and continued to push his wife towards her delivery room with the accompanying doctor. The two Shinigami stayed behind, glancing at each other.

"I'm still surprised," Renji commented, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"At what?"

"He actually got over his obliviousness to see Orihime loved him, not to mention actually fall in love with her too."

"Not to mention wed her and knock her up."

Both looking at each other, they smirked as Rukia sat down in a nearby chair. "Twenty bucks Ichigo faints."

"You're on."

* * *

Orihime blew out a sharp breath as she scrunched her eyes shut, waiting for her contraction to pass. She could feel her husband's worried stare on her and as much as she wanted to reassure him, she particularly couldn't due to the pain in her lower half.

Ichigo took her hand and wrapped it around his, "If it hurts, just squeeze my hand, okay?" It was about now that he started to realize just how helpless he would be to all this. Orihime would have to go through all this alone, not something he really favored seeing as he always tried to help her with everything. Shuddering in uncomfortable ache, the healer shook her head.

"I-I don't want to hurt you," she mumbled through the pain, even though she still held onto his hand anyways.

"You won't hurt me, Hime," he cooed to her in a low tone, trying to keep everything calm. "Go ahead." Hesitating a bit, Orihime winced as she gripped his hand, feeling the last bit of effects from the contraction. As soon as it was over, she sighed again and fell back onto her pilled, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Mou... I-It hurts..." She mumbled while gripping the bed sheet with her opposite hand. Ichigo couldn't help but frown at her pain as he leaned over the bed railing to place a light kiss on her lips.

"I'm proud of you," he told her in a quieter tone, his cheeks burning a bit. Glancing up at him with big gray eyes, Orihime silently questioned what he was referring to.

"I-I've done nothing to be proud of," she told him, letting her eyes flutter closed for a moment. Tears started to sting at her eyes and caused her lashes to grow heavy. Orihime could feel his large hand on her stomach, rubbing it softly.

"You've carried 'Baby-san' for nine months and now you're going through all this just to bring him into the world. I'd say that's something to be proud of."

"Eh? What makes you think it's a boy, Ichigo-kun?" Orihime suddenly questioned, noticing how he referred to the baby as a 'him'.

"Manly instinct?" Ichigo replied, smirking lightly. A small giggle escaped her lips as she then used her hand to wipe away stray tears.

"Is there even such a thing?" She smiled as she spoke, gripping his hand a bit. "My womanly instinct tells me it's a girl."

"Hm... A girl, really?"

"Yup. Either that or an alien."

"... I don't think we're having an alien baby, Orihime," Ichigo commented, hoping he wouldn't deflate her hopes too bad.

"But it looked like an alien at the earlier sonograms," Orihime pouted, thinking back to those earlier months.

"All babies look like aliens at their early sonogram."

"Ah, I see..." The healer let her lids flutter closed again in fatigue. Her contractions were getting closer in time now and each one left her more tired than the last. Ichigo couldn't help but smile and be proud of his wife, _very_ thankful to have her in his life.

Moving his free hand to her forehead, he brushed stray hairs from her face, keeping the tendrils from sticking from her sweat-coated skin. A doctor entered the room moments later, a smile apparent on her face. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was glad they had a female doctor to deliver the baby. He wasn't particularly fond of the idea of some other man looking at things he wasn't supposed to. Okay, maybe that was his job, but he was very possessive when it came to his wife.

"She looks tired," she commented as she moved towards the foot of the bed. Ichigo just nodded, his eyes never leaving his wife. "Orihime-san, can you put your feet on the stirrups?" Although she showed no other sign of being awake, she still put her feet up as she was told, just like every other time the doctor came in.

The physician took a seat in the chair at the end of the bed and spent a good few minutes there before speaking up.

"It looks like you're about 6 centimeters along," she commented, patting her feet up on the stirrups. "I'll have your nurses come in and start prepping for 8."

"What happens at 8?" Ichigo asked, obviously not aware of the timings. The doctor stepped out from behind her legs and smiled.

"The baby can start to come out."

Swallowing thickly, it suddenly seemed all too real to him. Obviously his wife carrying their child for nine months was real, but the fact the baby could be here within the next two or three hours made his heart drop to his shoes. What would he be the first words he said to it? Would he be a good father a few years down the line?

A small squeeze to his hand from Orihime brought him out of his thinking and back to reality. His brown eyes glanced to her resting form, seeing fatigue and a smile worn onto her features. Giving her a small smile in return, he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles, slowly but surely felt some reassure flood his system.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A low, all-too-familiar voice inquired. Ichigo froze, feeling that familial reiatsu pulse from behind him.

_Oh HELL no..._

The Ryoka was afraid to turn around and confirm his suspicions, but Orihime had it all covered for him. She gave the person a watery smile and breathily spoke,

"H-Hello Isshin-san!"

_Fuck._

"Hello, Orihime-chan! You're looking wonderful as always!" Kurosaki Isshin chirped, giving her a huge grin. Ichigo immediately snapped around, regretfully letting go of her hand, to give his father a piece of his mind.

"Get the hell out of here, dad!" He roared, shoving him out the doorway.

"J-Just what kind of greeting is that, Ichigo?" Isshin cried, feigning sadness. "I just came to check on how Orihime-chan was doing! Hey, how far along are you anyways?" Orihime forced another smile for him.

"6, Isshin-san..." It was evident she was already exhausted and the fact his father was there made her try to act like a hostess of sorts.

Whistling, Isshin held a thumb up and nodded approvingly. "I'm gonna be a granddaddy soon!" He cheered. Again, Ichigo gave his father another shove out the door, scowling all the way.

"Who the fuck sent you in here?" He yelled again. "It's only supposed to be us two!"

"As a doctor, I have supreme rights!"

"But that doesn't mean you can go waltzing around hospitals!"

Isshin finally seemed to back off and crossed his arms. Surprisingly, he appeared to get serious. Although it wasn't until they were both out of the room, out of Orihime's earshot.

"Then what should I tell everyone in the lobby?" Isshin inquired, pointing a thumb back to the waiting rooms. Ichigo deadpanned at a particular word.

"_E_-_Everyone? _I thought it was only Rukia and Renji!" Ichigo spoke in a harsh whisper, not wanting to alarm his wife with the fact there were more than three familiar people here.

Isshin nodded and started to count on his hands. "And Tatsuki-chan, Yuzu, Karin, Kisuke, Yoruichi-"

Unfortunately, Ichigo had stopped listening as soon as the count went over ten. He groaned loudly and raised a hand to his eyes, palms and digits visibly shaking.

"Goddamn it..." He swore hard, unsure of what to do. "Dad, _please_ _keep them away_."

"But they all came to see Orihime-chan!"

"Does it look like she's okay to see anyone?"

"She looked peachy to me!"

"Yeah, only because she wasn't having a contraction at that point," Ichigo hissed, watching people in white coats and blue tunics go around them to enter the room. Another revelation dawned upon the shinigami and his face immediately whitened. "Shit! Dammit, just tell them all they can see her and the baby _when she's well_." He quickly blurted out before darting back into the room. Isshin was left in the hall, scratching his head.

"Hm... I wonder how I'm going to tell that to Yamamoto and the rest of the Gotei 13..." And he sauntered back down the hall, hoping he wouldn't get mutilated with the unfortunate news.

* * *

Orihime had paled significantly while she was gone and she had a few more contractions he missed. By then, Ichigo felt like crap at the fact he let his gentle wife go through so much pain alone just so he could get rid of his own pain, the one he referred to as his father.

"Is this your husband?" The female doctor inquired from behind the healer's legs. Ichigo merely nodded and took his seat besides her bed, frowning as he held her hand again in his.

"Sorry, Hime..." He mumbled, giving her hand a small squeeze. She tried to give him a tired smile, but it didn't last too long.

"I-It's okay... You're here now."

He nodded and they both quieted, listening to the doctor go through procedure.

"Okay, Orihime-san, since you're at a good time to start, you can begin when-"

Ichigo could see the doctor's lips moving, talking, but now it was as if all sounds were blocked out. He didn't know what was going on, but things started to get fuzzy. He shook his head, trying to free himself from his distorted vision. He could see Orihime's face scrunching up in pain, but oddly, he didn't hear any cries of pain. He could feel her tiny hand grip his tightly each time she tried to push the baby out, but again, no sounds were heard.

Ichigo swallowed thickly as the only noise he heard was his erratic heartbeat in his ears. _Why is everything quiet?_ He wondered, glancing slowly back down to the doctor and accompanying nurses, all their expressions shifting from determination to smiles. The shinigami blinked slowly again, numbly trying to figure out why everything had slowed down.

And then a broken cry snapped him out of his irregular stupor. Things sped up again and Ichigo shook his head, wondering just what the hell happened to him. How much time just passed? It seemed like it was only a few seconds, yet it was so incredibly slow. Then again, it was obvious labor wasn't a quick process.

_Damn... I'm really out of it._

"Congratulations," the doctor spoke lightly, smiling through her face mask. The nearby nurse cleaned the baby up and wrapped it in a blanket. "You have a bright-haired little girl."

Ichigo couldn't explain it, but his heart soared. _His_ little girl came into view, just as the doctor said, with a small patch of blazing orange hair on her head.

Orihime grinned as she outstretched her arms to take the baby into her arms. Ichigo's eyes followed the child's handoff to his wife and his heart practically melted at the sight of a mother and her baby. Even as a newborn, he could see definitive features that distinctively belonged to Orihime.

"H-Hey there..." The healer cooed, her smile never fading from her face. "I'm your mommy." Ichigo began to smile himself and he let himself near the baby closer. Orihime looked up and grinned bigger at her husband. "I-It's a girl, Ichigo-kun."

"Y-Yeah..." He mumbled dumbly, leaning over the side railing to kiss his wife sweetly on the lips. "You did great," he told her, regardless of his whole mental state during the process.

"Me? We did this together..." Orihime felt tears stinging at her eyes, happiness overflowing her system. "You and I both made..." She stopped, looking up at him with some confusion. "What are we going to name her?" Ichigo looked back down at her daughter only to see her open her eyes for a short moment. It didn't last long, but it gave him the knowledge of what color eyes she had.

She had shimmering gray irises, just like her mother. She was a beauty, just like Orihime.

Smiling, he let his finger drift by his child's hand, letting the baby latch onto it with ease. "What about Aya?" The healer seemed to agree as she smiled one of her infamous blinding, supernova smiles.

"Hello... Aya."

.

.

.


	37. Hello, Miss Irresistable

_Now I'm writing about people losing underwear? Damn, this is going to be a long summer..._

* * *

She seemed awfully red coming into class, he noted, her bottom lip caught between her front teeth. Kurosaki Ichigo raised a brow as he watched his girlfriend saunter into the classroom, suspiciously avoiding conversation with anyone. The particular trait he mentally marked was the way she walked. She kept her knees close, her hands fisting the gray skirt tightly. It didn't help that her facial expression showed emotions he didn't really like.

Her eyes were glued to the floor and her cheeks were a noticeable red. It was as if she was ashamed or something, or worse – In pain.

His stomach did an uncomfortable lurch at that thought, but he couldn't help but fight back his own small blush. He _did_ spend a good deal of time over at her place the evening before. Had he done something in an odd way that she was hurting now? From what he could recall, however, she didn't seem to protest in pain during their... activities. But then again, she wasn't one to voice her concerns.

Ichigo's amber brown eyes followed her figure and watched her take the seat next to his. He didn't know how he got so lucky as to get a spot next to Orihime in the back row of the room, but he didn't question it too much. She seemed to make sure her arms were kept tight to her side as she purposely avoided his gaze.

"Okay students! Take out your math books!" The teacher ordered from the front of the room just as the bell finished ringing. Ichigo did as he was told and took out a sheet of notebook paper as well. Hastily scribbling words onto the sheet, he stuck his tongue out as he wrote. It was moments later that he managed to toss it onto the healer's desk while the teacher was distracted.

Turning a whole new shade of red as the paper fluttered down, her hands shook as she received it and opened up the careful folds.

_Hey, you okay? You seem... hurt or something. Damn, was I too, uh, rough yesterday?_

Although Orihime wanted to sigh again as the flood of the previous day's memories, she kept her lips shut tight as to not make any odd sounds in the otherwise quiet classroom. She picked up her pencil and wrote down a reply.

_No, I'm fine. You were fine too. I'm just..._

Frowning as he read her own message, he didn't particularly like how she crossed out those last two words instead of finishing her sentence.

_Come on, Hime. What's really up? You know you can trust me._

And Orihime knew she could trust him. It was just that her current dilemma was far more embarrassing than she'd like to share.

_I just... lost something, is all._

He had to raise another brow, a look of bewilderment now on his face. She lost something? That could explain her forlorn body language, but her avoidance of any and every one made him believe it was something else.

_Need any help finding it later?_

She shook her head, more or less to herself, and the blush grew indefinitely bigger. Both glanced back up at the teacher and so far she hadn't noticed their current passing of notes.

_I, um... Sort of need it now..._

_Now_ Ichigo was confused beyond belief. His girlfriend looked pained and possibly ashamed, yet she lost something she needed right this moment. Would she ever stop beating around the bush to actually tell him?

_Out with it, Orihime. What did you lose?_

He didn't like to be so forceful, but he couldn't exactly bear being confused any longer.

Orihime had hunched her shoulders uncomfortably at the question, her eyes darting from the small paper to him, back to the small paper again. Her slender fingers gripped the pencil tightly as the tip hovered over the top. Would she really write it? Or rather, did she even have enough guts to write what she was missing? Swallowing thickly, the healer _knew_ she wouldn't be able to go through with it.

So instead, she placed her pencil back onto the desk, lightly enough as to not cause a disruption. She was already embarrassed enough with Ichigo. She didn't want to deal with the class.

Her small and shook as she hovered it over hip. Biting her lip again, she tapped the bony part of her hip and searching Ichigo's eyes for any sign of understanding. Unfortunately for her, he just looked as confused as before.

_Oh goodness..._ Orihime fought back a groan and the stinging tears. She felt so nervous and embarrassment she felt like she'd cry. _Kurosaki-kun, please understand!_ She mentally requested.

As a second attempt, she shoved a small bit of her sweater up to grab at the side zipper of her skirt. Her fingers were positioned over the cool metal and a small _zip_ sound could be heard as Orihime shyly parted the skirt just a bit to show him. However, a loud _crunch_ of paper startled her and she suddenly noticed Ichigo had gripped pages of his notebook in his hand with a bright red blush on his face. Hastily ripping out another piece of paper, he fiercely scribbled more words.

_Just what the hell are you doing? Why are you taking your skirt off in class?_

Pouted to herself, Orihime zipped her skirt back up and inhaled sharply as she wrote a new response.

_Kurosaki-kun, you wanted to know what I lost!_

_But what could possibly be under your skirt that you need?_

Orihime's big, pleading gray eyes gazed _hard_ at Ichigo, just waiting for him to get it. It was almost like a staring game between the two, Orihime having a begging expression on her face while Ichigo had one that was a mixture of anger and confusion. Although it was obvious he understood when that particular face melted into a deadpanned one, jaw dropping.

With the teacher's back facing them, Ichigo snatched one of the two pieces of paper on her test and wrote out an almost illegible question.

_Fuck, you're not wearing any...?_

Orihime just nodded ashamedly, placing her face in her hands for a moment before writing out a painfully slow reply.

_Kurosaki-kun, could you please stop ripping them off when we... you know?_ Was the first thing she wrote out before realizing just how wantonly that sounded, so she scratched it out and rewrote a new response. Her face only got hotter as she knew he would still be able to read the first part. The worst part was that she didn't particularly mind him ripping off her panties. She thought it was actually pretty hot, although she'd never admit it to him.

_I thought I still had others...But I don't._

That was it for Ichigo. He couldn't respond with anything else. He held the paper in his hands, trying to keep himself from thinking too much. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't focus on math, nor could he focus on anything else he'd do during the day.

The only thing Ichigo kept his mind on all day was his currently panty-less girlfriend, how fucked he was for thinking but that, and just how much trouble _she_ would be after school back at her apartment.

.

.

.


	38. Pull Me Back

He had no reason to be nervous. No, he definitely had no good reason to be _this_ nervous. To the point of tearing apart his own, matching corsage into nothing but shredded petals or grinding his teeth together till they ached? Really, he shouldn't be so anxious over waiting like this.

Sure, Kurosaki Ichigo was just waiting outside the school for his girlfriend of about six months, but for some odd reason, the tension was tearing him apart on the inside. He really should have forced the option to pick her up more, but Tatsuki, Rukia and Rangiku shoved him away and told him he needed to wait to the last possible minute to see his princess; saying something along the lines of making her as beautiful as she could be. He would beg to differ that she didn't need makeup to make herself look beautiful, because she was just fine as is. But he'd be damned if he said that out loud to anyone other than Orihime, and even then he could imagine himself getting flustered over saying it.

Other couples passed him as he stood outside the doors to the school. Even if it was May, it was still a bit chilly at night and he could see his breath at this point. His already erratic heartbeat and rapid breathing became known to the people walking by that he was nervous. Goddamn it, why was he so nervous? It was just their senior prom and he had asked Orihime to it, end of story. Maybe he was afraid of how it would end. The sudden thought of her dancing in heels made him wince, already imagining her tripping and falling all over the place.

"... Ichigo..." A deep voice called out, making the strawberry turn his head. Off to his left were Chad and Ishida approaching him, both decked out in their own suits. Chad kept with plain black slacks while the Quincy clothed himself in all white suit (to be expected).

"Ah, hey, Chad," Ichigo spoke after clearing his throat and stabilizing his currently shaking hand. If it was one thing he didn't want Ishida to see it was how anxious he was. Throwing a glare to the teen anyways, he reluctantly scoffed and acknowledged his presence. "... Ishida."

"Believe me, I'm just as disappointed to see you as well, Kurosaki," Ishida spoke in monotone, pushing up his glasses before folding his arms across his chest. "But perhaps if Inoue-san was here, I would maybe be able to tolerate you a bit more."

"Oi!" Ichigo hissed, just about dropping his girlfriend's corsage onto the ground in anger. "Don't talk about her so casually!" His words only made his rival smirk.

"Possessive much? She's not an object, Kurosaki. Nor should she be dating someone of low quality and stupidity as you-"

"Low quality, what the hell is that supposed to mean, you damn nerd? And I know she's not a freaking object!" Ichigo knew it all too well and he always did his best to treat her like she should be treated. It was corny and clichéd, but she should be treated like her name – a princess.

"It means she doesn't deserve someone as bad as you," Ishida scoffed, turning around to face the other way. "You've done nothing but put her in harm's way. I almost think _I _would be-" Ichigo stopped listening after the bit about putting her in the way of danger, knowing he was all too right. He hated to admit it, but he had definitely put her in compromising positions. Even after that whole Hueco Mundo fiasco, he couldn't handle to deal with himself, so it was even more surprising to have Orihime approach him about everything.

"... Ichigo," Chad tapped the shinigami's shoulder, snapping out of his funk. Ichigo glanced back at his large friend to see him pointing ahead of them, no more than thirty feet away. He didn't miss what he was referring to, as the shinigami's eyes locked with a flustered healer being pulled by a smaller shinigami and her best friend. Yes, Inoue Orihime was being dragged towards the front of the building by Rukia and Tatsuki.

Deftly letting his jaw go slack, he couldn't believe his eyes. Although his girlfriend just about tripped during her obvious embarrassing walk towards him, she was still just so... beautiful, but even that word didn't seem to suffice.

The clicking of her heals came within range and the two girl's voices nagged at her for not being more relaxed about this all. Ichigo's ears must not have been working quite right, because he didn't hear everything and was more enthralled by her looks. She wore a charcoal gray halter top dress with beaded straps, the fabric stretching far to the ground. The back dipped low, exposing fair skin, while a broach gathered the fabric together on her hip. Her hair was swept upwards, a bun held into place with quite a few curls falling out. Her trusty hairpins were kept in the same place, even though they didn't particularly match, but she still looked beautiful just the same.

Ichigo could definitely feel his face heat up and he just about lost his grip on the corsage _again_. He had to glance off to the side in an attempt to hide his blush as he cleared his throat. What could he say? Scratch that, what could he say without having a squeak or a jump in his voice? Right about now, it seemed pretty impossible to do either.

Orihime saw him shift his head sideways after looking at her up and down, and it only made her grip her white shawl around her shoulders tighter. Was she looking too overdone? She had cried to the girls to not look so frilly and done up so much, but they just continued curling her hair and applying makeup. Oh, she started wondering if she should've just stopped them earlier and he wouldn't be looking away right now.

"H-Hello, Kurosaki-kun..." She managed to squeak out, keeping the covering around her shoulders tight. "I'm sorry if I'm late."

"You're not late at all, Orihime," Tatsuki cut in, nudging her healer friend closer to the blushing berry. "He's still here, isn't he?" Orihime could only nod at her point, but she only tried to say something to not be so awkward and just keep quiet. She could still feel the eyes of the others watching both of them and it only made her face grow hotter. Soon all the teens fell into an odd silence, one with a bit of uncomfortable tension. It was Rukia to break the quiet surrounding them all, her tiny hands going to rest on her hips as she as she sported a suddenly confident grin.

"Okay, let's get on with this human event!" She chirped, making them all freeze in shock aside from Tatsuki whom just looked confused.

"Human event...? What's that supposed to mea-"

"You guys just go inside," Ichigo snapped, cutting into the compromising subject. "I'll be inside in a minute." Still with that awkward silence, most of them took the cue and began to enter through the school doors, including Orihime. "Not you, Inoue." He told her, quickly wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her back over before she got too far into the school. She flushed hard at the sudden hold and looked up at him confused.

"Am I..." She started slowly, her fears of being too dressed up getting to her. "Did I overdo it?" Orihime asked quietly, searching his eyes. While in his arms, his face melted from his general scowl to surprise, then to a calm, accepting expression with a smile.

"You didn't overdo it at all," Ichigo told her, loosening his hold on her just a bit and giving his girlfriend some room. Her eyes widened slightly and she puckered her lips into a small pout. She looked sad almost and it made Ichigo start to fret. "O-Oi, why are you looking at me like that?" He asked quickly, sincerely hoping she wouldn't cry.

"Then why did you look away?" Orihime inquired, her voice low. He could still hear her just fine though and blushed just as soon as she finished her question. He obviously couldn't dance around this nor did he want to lie to her. But just how easily could he say, 'You were too beautiful for my eyes'? Even in his mind it sounded too sweet and fluffy.

Pulling away, Ichigo let his hand drift to the back of his neck to knead the muscles uncomfortably as he glanced downwards. He had almost forgotten about the corsage. "Here," he spoke curtly, rising it up to show her. "For you." The healer's eyes grew bigger in surprise as a tinge of red dusted her cheeks.

"It's... really pretty," she breathed in amazement. The flowers were indeed gorgeous and it warmed her heart knowing Ichigo had a matching one. The ones pinned to his lapel definitely couldn't be missed. Ichigo opened the box for her and took out the wristlet, but not before setting the box onto the ground so he wouldn't completely drop it like he almost did before.

"You look really good too," Ichigo murmured under his breath as he slipped it around her wrist. She had to look at him and crane her neck closer, a slightly baffled expression written on her face.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't catch that?" She squeaked, doing her best not to blush harder at the feeling of his warm, calloused hands briefly touching her arm. This time he locked his brown eyes with hers and it somehow made her blush harder, the way he was looking at her.

"You look really nice," Ichigo blurted out, a shade of red on his own cheeks as well. "Well, more than nice," he tried to continue; fumbling over his words just like he was fumbling over putting her corsage on. "You look amazing, but I just seem to-"

Orihime was bold enough to silence him with a quick peck on the lips, which made him flinch out of it being so unexpected. He was definitely surprised she of all people managed to get enough guts to kiss him, but it didn't take long for him to smirk and melt into the kiss just the same. Moving his lips against hers as he pulled her in closer by the waist, Ichigo could feel himself losing it and getting half-tempted to chuck all this prom crap and whisk his girlfriend away for them to be alone. But Orihime and her friends worked hard to get her looking this amazing and he'd be damned if he just snuck her off after all their work.

Pulling away, Orihime sported that look she always had after they kissed – half-lidded, glazed over eyes and slightly puckered lips. It was one of his favorite expressions and it made him want to pull her back in for more.

"We should probably go inside," Ichigo suggested, his thumb running over the silky fabric covering her waist. For a brief second, she almost looked disappointed, which ended up making the shinigami chuckle at her expression. "Although you're looking so good, I'm not sure I want anyone else to see you."

Orihime just hummed in understanding, a small smile gracing her lips. "Okay," she spoke in that melodic voice of hers, her hand finding its way towards his to lace their fingers together. Upon her simple, but very endearing action, Ichigo squeezed her hand just a bit while planting one more kiss on her forehead, making her squeak lightly.

With the way things were going so far, he could only think tonight was only going to get better.

* * *

Feeling pained toes while sitting in a hot gym wasn't exactly the idea of prom that he had in mind. He knew that they weren't exactly like they were maybe twenty years ago, but this just seemed ridiculous. Instead of the distanced dancing he imagined, with the guy's hands on her waist with hers on his shoulders, most teens voted to either mosh pit at the more hard rock songs or dance in an awkwardly provocative motion of the girl's back flat the guy's chest during the more upbeat songs. He had an idea of the name for it, but the thought of it alone made his face flame.

And then there was Orihime, sitting in the chair next to his, poofed dress and all as she guzzled down what was her third glass of water for the night. It wasn't like she was dancing nonstop, but he could still understand her heat exhaustion; it was a sauna in here with all the moving bodies. Disheartedly, he noticed they hadn't danced together all that much tonight. Ichigo knew he was a terrible dancer. Scratch that, he didn't know how to dance _period_. Orihime managed to rope him into joining her for a few songs, and when they had tried, she continually stepped on his toes or they would both grow too flustered and go back to sit down. He indeed felt bad since this was their first, and last, school dance they'd go to, but he also knew his pride was also too great to let it be destroyed so easily by failed dancing.

"Ahhh," Orihime sighed, finishing off her cold water with a grin. "That was really good!" She chirped. Ichigo could only roll his eyes and lift his hand to unbutton the first few buttons of his shirt as well as slightly loosen his tie. He could feel beads of sweat rolling down his neck and making strands of hair stick to his forehead. Lord, it was getting so hot in here... And he had ditched his jacket quite a while ago too.

"You don't say..." Ichigo grumbled, finding it somewhat difficult to pull down the black tie that seemed to be choking him. Pursing her lips, his healer girlfriend looked at him in both curiosity and worry while fighting back a blush at his insistent tugging at his shirt. He was just warm, just like she was, she tried to tell herself. He wasn't purposely unbuttoning for her. He noticed her staring though and raised a brow. "What?"

"N-Nothing!" Orihime squeaked, bringing her attention back to her empty glass, all of a sudden finding it very interesting. It was Ichigo's turn to be bewildered as he looked at Orihime incredulously. Just like the rest of the night, she was acting very peculiar.

The song that was just playing then finished, moving into a more slow-paced one. It sounded like English, but it had a good melody nonetheless. Couples that had been by the speakers before were now dissipating, as if the choice of music was too slow for their tastes. There was still quite a crowd, Ichigo noticed, but people were definitely taking a break. Orihime, on the other hand, was looking back at the floor with interest in her eyes.

"Do you..." Ichigo started, having to clear his throat at the thought of asking her again. "Want to go out and dance?" Her eyes snapped back to his, her cheeks clearly flushed at the idea.

"B-But you don't really want to-"

"Yeah, but you do."

If there was one thing Orihime both loved and somewhat disliked about their relationship, it was how easy Ichigo was able to read her. She could never lie nor keep a secret from him.

Shyly glancing back to her hands in her lap, she nodded and reigned back a fighting blush. "I-If you're alright with it, Kurosaki-kun..."

Next thing she knew, her berry boyfriend was standing in front of her, extending his hand out to her with a gentle smile on his face. "It's fine..." He told her in a low voice, eyes reflecting sincerity. She had to swallow hard while wishing away her rapidly beating heart as she placed her hand in his.

Another thing she loved about their relationship – everything just seemed to fit together. Their hands, their lips, his angles and her curves...

Leading her out onto the floor, Ichigo never broke his gaze with Orihime. His dark brown eyes locked with her brilliant honey-colored ones. Somehow, it was like everything else around them melted and didn't quite matter anymore. It was just them, and suddenly Ichigo didn't care about his bad dancing or Orihime's clumsy, but very cute feet.

The shinigami was careful to keep things slow, which seemed pretty relaxing for both of them anyways, as he guided her small hands around his neck, letting his own hands follow by resting on her hips, pulling her close. And it was official. For the first time that night, both of them had managed to find a good rhythm to sway to without messing up at all.

It was the times like these that made Orihime want to tear up, in all honesty. He was being so gentle and kind to her, it made her mind always reel back to the thought of 'why her?' They had the conversation before about it; that Ichigo chose her because she was "Inoue", but she never quite understood. After they returned from Hueco Mundo and defeated Aizen, things had changed unexplainably. Things weren't bad or good, just... different. But that still never explained the first time Ichigo had asked her to go to the Bad Shield 2 movie with him, which somehow turned into where they were at now.

"This isn't too bad..." Ichigo murmured into her hair, breaking Orihime from her thoughts. "Well... Besides those cocky grins the others are giving us from the other side of the room." The healer flushed, wondering if their friends were really smirking at them. She wanted to check, but she didn't want to make it so obvious either.

"A-Are they really? Ah, h-how embarrassing..." She mumbled into his shirt, letting her hands fall just a bit to rest on his shoulders.

"Well... Aside from Tatsuki who's giving me the death glare," he continued, rolling his eyes. "Probably wanting me to keep my hands where she can see them."

"R-Really?" Orihime exclaimed, unintentionally flinching in place. Perhaps Ichigo did have some wandering hands, but the healer didn't think he would let them stray in a public place like this! Inwardly, she began to wish really hard that their friends wouldn't make fun of, or threaten, like they did. She really did like being with Ichigo, but the way they bugged the couple about it was embarrassing!

"Whatever..." Ichigo scoffed, pulling her closer and making her squeak in surprise. "We won't care about them. It's just you and me right now." His words made a warm smile break onto her face.

"Right!" Orihime agreed, still grinning. It was interesting, because over the last six months, there were moments like these that made Orihime want to confess again. She hadn't said anything that could potentially be rushing it, even though her heart would ache to tell him how she feels. Now was one of those moments that seemed _perfect_ to say something...

_I'll... do it before school ends._ She mentally promised herself, her cheeks flushed as she let her arms drop from his shoulders to wrap around his waist.

"... You okay?" The shinigami asked quietly, noticing her sudden hug and silence. She just nodded and hugged him tighter. Ichigo pulled away though, which made her confused at first, but his expression read otherwise, a calm one that made her worry just a little less. "Let's go get some fresh air," he suggested, glancing back at the doors. Plus if they went outside they could have just a bit more alone time as well. She nodded and off they went.

* * *

That cool night air proved to be quite relaxing and the quiet was much nicer than the constant of music like inside. Orihime was wearing Ichigo's jacket over her shoulders to shield herself from the slight chill, with her white shawl in her lap. Ichigo was feeling even worse now. First he wasn't able to dance, which more than likely ruined it for his girlfriend, but things were so oddly quiet tonight. Aside from their occasional movie nights, their pace of conversation was pretty up kept, with this bizarre exception of this evening. Was it because she was looking so damn beautiful that he was at a loss of words?

Scowling, the shinigami told himself not to be so corny and try to spend what time he had left actually talking to her. He didn't want things to be left with awkward silences, whether it was here, on the school's rooftop at their senior prom, or anywhere else.

Orihime didn't say anything, but just then, she let her hand drift to rest on top of his, while her head fell to rest on his shoulder. It sort of startled him out of his thinking, but he still accepted it nonetheless.

"You tired?" He asked in a soft voice, shifting his hand just a bit to be able to hold it better with their fingers intertwining. His thumb ran over her smooth skin as he looked at her somewhat curiously.

"No..." She spoke slowly, just as if she really was tired. "I just like being with you, Kurosaki-kun." Her sweet voice was speaking nothing but the truth, as she smiled. "... A lot."

Somehow, her words made him feel a rush of happiness and relief, and he grinned to himself before using his free hand to hold her chin to direct her eyes towards him. The healer's eyes were wide with surprise, but still shone with nothing but honesty.

"Me too..." He told her, pulling her in for a kiss. Now, just like every other time, they started out shy but gentle, which always made Orihime's heart soar. But she couldn't help but smile and stifle a giggle as he moved his lips against hers. "... Oi, what's so funny?" He asked half-heartedly, not opening his eyes as he asked and continued to kiss her. Shifting herself closer to him, into his arms, Orihime managed to pull away just enough to explain herself.

"Kurosaki-kun likes being with himself?" She asked, knowing she was taking his earlier answer a bit too literally. Growling, Ichigo nipped at her lower lip and let his hands move towards her waist and pull her incredibly close.

"You know what I meant, baka..." He teased, relishing in the feel of her exposed back under his hand. Orihime just continued to smile as she fully accepted Ichigo's kind kisses and careful caresses. He was always so good not to rush these things, and he always asked her first before doing anything rash. But his actions alone showed that he enjoyed being with her just as much as she did him.

Orihime took some initiative and leaned closer to his fit form, which was leaning against the fence keeping them from, well, falling off the roof. She let her body rest against his as she boldly tried to meet his kisses with just as much fervor.

"Here," Ichigo cut in, reluctantly pulling away from her lips. It was almost as if she was weightless, because he managed to pick her up relatively easily and plopped her down on his lap. While he had done this before, making her just as embarrassed now like the other times, there was one small difference than last time. "This damn thing is so poofy..." He growled, trying to push down the heavy cloth away from his girlfriend's small frame. Her sitting like this made it look like she was drowning in it!

"M-Maybe I shouldn't sit on you like thi-"

"No," Ichigo cut in, his large hands resting on her hips. He connected their lips together once more and let his tongue slip into her moist cavern, making Orihime whimper lightly. If he didn't particularly want her to get off, she wouldn't complain; definitely not when he was making her feel like this of all things.

Slipping her fingers through his thick orange locks, the redheaded healer pulled him closer while trying her best to catch her breath. How he had always been able to make her lose herself with a single kiss, Orihime would never know. Ichigo had stopped kissing her directly on the lips and moved to kissing her neck, which proved to help her breathe a bit easier, but still have her breath catch upon every contact of lips to skin.

"K-Kurosaki-kun..." Orihime mumbled, her cheeks flushing from the attention he was lavishing on her. Practically making out with her boyfriend on the roof of the school at their senior prom wasn't exactly what Orihime had in mind for the night. She didn't mind though, not in the slightest.

"Ichigo," he spoke against her fair skin before nipping at that lightly, just enough to leave a mark. Her breathing hitched and her hands gripped his hair a bit tighter upon the brand new hickey. _P-Phooey, I just got rid of the last one too..._ She heatedly thought as Ichigo repeated himself. "It's Ichigo...Don't you think it's about time you called me by my first name?" He asked, letting his hands drop from her hips to her thighs, feeling her body heat through the fabric of the dress.

"I-I could ask the same..." Orihime interjected, pouting at his request. He hadn't called her by her first name either.

Ichigo smirked upon her point, finding her stubbornness to be kind of cute. He held onto her legs tightly, clasping them closer to his own hips so she was just about straddling him. "I suppose..." He murmured, allowing his lips to kiss the crook of her neck and shoulder lightly. "Orihime..."

Upon that small word, her name, she shuddered heavily, finding the way he said it to be absolutely amazing. "Hm... Again?" She asked shyly, only making him smirk further.

"Orihime..." He repeated, his hand ever so slightly pulling up the bottom of her dress to expose her leg as he kissed her bare shoulder this time. Maybe he was jealous of others looking at her before, but now he was damn glad she was wearing this halter-top dress. The sight of her skin drove him wild.

Smiling to herself, Orihime sported a blush on her cheeks as her own hands drifted down to lie on his chest. Although, she couldn't stop the slight twitching of her fingers as they roved the covered muscles. "Ichigo-kun..." She spoke his name, feeling more embarrassment show up. Ichigo then sighed dejectedly, but still continued to kiss her shoulder.

"Still tacking on the suffix?" He asked, his warm breath fanning over her skin. Orihime groaned to herself, her palms and digits moving to cup his cheeks while her brows furrowed together.

"So many questions..." She sighed against his lips before forcing a kiss on him. Sure, her cheeks were on fire from her scandalously bold action, but she felt that he really could caress and kiss her so easily, then drop her like a hot potato to ask a silly question.

Ichigo was definitely surprised by her quick kiss, seeing this was another first. Even in the last six months, she had never grown impatient with him and jumped the gun. Although he'd never admit it to her, because he knew she'd get flustered over it, he thought it was actually pretty hot. Groaning after slipping his tongue into her mouth, his left hand brushed over her exposed leg while the right rested on her bare back. Her skin was outwardly chilly from the cool night air, but he could tell she was inwardly warm. He was feeling the same heat from this impromptu kissing session.

Orihime seemed to grow even bolder, which was only surprising the berry boy even more as her slender fingers began to unbutton the top buttons of his shirt. It made Ichigo shudder and kiss his healer harder, deeper, while his hand extended far under her dress, high close to somewhere quite indecent.

And then he froze, unmoving, still.

"What the hell...?" He cursed under his breath, pulling away with huge, almost offended, eyes. Orihime retained her bright red color as she quickly pulled back her hands, holding them close to herself.

"W-What is it?" She squeaked, wondering just why he sounded so aghast all of a sudden.

"Lie down," he immediately commanded, no compassion in his voice like earlier; just forcefulness.

"E-Eh? Kuro- I-Ichigo-kun, what's going on?"

Since she didn't lie down herself, he quickly, but still gently laid her back down on the cold pavement, making her shiver at the unexpected temperature change. Orihime had no clue what he was doing and her heart was racing at what seemed to be an emergency.

Ichigo unexpectedly hiked up the skirt of her dress, at least on the left side, exposing her pale leg for him to see. High up on her left thigh, around her pale leg, sat a white garter with gray stitching, just like her dress. Needless to say, Ichigo flushed hard himself as he tried his best to remove it quickly.

"W-What the fuck is this?" He swore again, pulling it over her thin ankle and high heel. Orihime's face dropped in mortification, never thinking he would've found it.

"O-Oh, Rangiku-san gave it to me, and-"

"You wear these things on your wedding day, Orihime! _Not_ at your senior prom," he hissed, not mad at her, but purely embarrassed beyond belief. "Don't ever listen to her." He growled, his hand shaking because he wasn't sure what to do with the offending garment. Hide it in his pocket so Orihime wouldn't be fooled by Rangiku again, or fling it over the fence and away from _both_ of them. Right now, the latter idea was looking pretty good and far less embarrassing.

"E-Eh?" Orihime squeaked again, sitting herself up again while quickly pulling the hem back down to her ankles. "Not even when she tells me about your-"

"Don't finish that sentence!" He yelled out himself, his voice jumping into an unnatural squeak. Groaning, he raised his hand to his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger in defeat.

"... I-I'm sorry..." She mumbled quietly, her fingers bunching up the fabric of her dress.

"... For what?" Ichigo inquired, managing to scrap together some guts to glance at her without his face exploding.

"I... made this a horrible night," Orihime finished under her breath, her shoulders visibly shaking. Whether it was from the cold or suddenly being upset, Ichigo couldn't tell. Sighing, he shook his head and turned towards her, facing her directly.

"This wasn't a horrible night," he assured her, his amber brown eyes looking intently at her. She just shook her head side to side, as if it weren't the truth. Rolling his eyes, Ichigo took her shaking hand into his, which made her look back up to him in surprise. "It was different and kind of embarrassing, I admit... But it's definitely one I won't forget." Tears stung at her eyes and she sniffled, her free hand reaching up to wipe at her eyes. "O-Oi, no crying!" Ichigo exclaimed, squeezing her hand tightly. "You know I'm useless when you cry..." This was true, as much as he hated to admit it.

But Orihime forced a smile for him and tried to subdue the tears. "U-Uhn! I'll do my best," she spoke softly, watching with blurred eyes as her boyfriend helped her upright again. He gave her a kind smile of his own before reaching back to the ground to grab his previously fallen jacket and her shawl. After shrugging it back onto her frail shoulders, he motioned to the doors. He had an idea she was more than likely tired, since it was getting late.

He knew it was truly a night he wouldn't let slip through his memories, and she refused to let it go by just the same. But Orihime didn't worry either. After this last dance, they'd finish school and more than likely go to their separate vocational schools, but deep down, she knew in her heart they'd still be together.

.

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	39. Liquid Confidence

_FFFFF- this is a super bad drabble. XD It was stuff that Tia-chan and I discussed over at BA, and it seemed really awesome at the time, but I managed to screw it up. XD AND end it badly too... Nagi helped me with the ending bit, but I still finished the last statement crappily, so don't smash my head in too hard because of it. (I'm going to blame it on bad sleep right now and the fact I already got an LYD update out today. (Yes, this entire thing was written within the last few hours...)) Try to enjoy it if you can! :] Thanks again to Tia-chan for the ideas!_

* * *

"I told you, I don't want to drink." Kurosaki Ichigo, strawberry shinigami, fervently replied to the men surrounding him, pushing away the beer bottle they kept pushing towards his form. It was his 20th birthday and he was now of legal age to drink. But just because he _could_ didn't mean he _wanted_ to. "It's my birthday and I don't want to get hammered."

Renji coyly smiled and pushed the drink closer again. "Come on, Ichigo. The fact you're being an uptight ass about it means you definitely need to relax. It'll do just that." Ichigo sent a death glare towards the monkey man, scowling with his signature expression.

"I fucking told you, I _don't_ want to drink," he hissed, slamming his fist down on the table. What part of 'no' didn't Renji and his other friends get? Hearing a chuckle, Ichigo's dark eyes darted over to Ishida, whom was pushing up his glasses with a small smile.

"You're just scared you can't hold your drinks," he teased, pushing him on. Renji immediately caught on to the Quincy's game and joined in as well, leaving Chad as a bystander, merely watching.

"I bet you're afraid you'll be worse than Rukia when it comes to drinking," he grinned, pointing a thumb over to the currently drunk, petite shinigami. Kuchiki Rukia stood with Tatsuki and Orihime, giggling away like a madman. The worst part was she only had a few sips before she lost her edge.

"Hell no! I'm much better than that midget!" Ichigo seethed, promptly snatching the beer bottle from Renji's hands, taking a swig moments after before curling his lips in disgust. It was absolutely horrible tasting, but he could still feel the buzz that contributed to the drink.

With Ishida pushing up his glasses once more and Renji grinning at each other, the same thought passed through their heads.

_Success!_

But soon one drink turned into two, three, four... five... The rest of the guys weren't so concerned, because they had already planned for Chad to be the designated driver, so Ichigo could pass himself out silly because it was his birthday. Most of them just found it funny how he was so against drinking, and now he had gotten himself drunk.

He had definitely relaxed himself, sliding further and further into the booth as the glasses collected in front of him on the table. His cheeks burned a dull red as his eyes were half-lidded. He was keeping relatively quiet as he continued to drink, but a startling question left his lips, breaking the silence.

"Why doesn't Orihime like me...?" He mumbled, swirling a bottle around with his hand. Ishida about choked on his own martini while Renji raised a tattooed brow.

"Dude, since when are you on a first name basis with her?" Renji scoffed, taking a hearty swig of his own drink after asking. Ichigo just shook his head, mumbling to himself.

"We're not..." He grumbled, staring at his drink with empty eyes. "But she hasn't talked to me all night..." Lifting his gaze to the said girl across the room with her friends, he felt his heart thud hard in his chest. She really looked beautiful in that light pink cocktail dress the girls forced her to wear to the gathering. Her hair fell down her shoulders and her cheeks were dusted with a light pink color of their own. Her brown eyes seemed to shine brightly under the club's lights.

Ichigo really wanted to talk to her, but he wouldn't know what to say. Well, even in his drunken state, he knew the one thing he didn't want to do was go up to her and speak incoherently. He didn't want to stutter in front of _this_ particular girl.

"She's really pretty..." He mumbled to himself, finding himself in a heated stare down of her curvy form. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Ishida push up his glasses yet again with a red color painting his cheeks. Raising his hand and curling it into a fist, Ichigo reached over and promptly punched the Quincy in the arm, making him yelp out in pain. "An' don't you dare agree with me, you bastard..." He slurred heavily. "In yer mind or not."

Clearing his throat, Ishida began to tend to his now bruised arm while glaring at the offending shinigami. "It's not like she's yours, Kurosaki," he replied hastily. "Besides... How do we know you even like her for real? You've never talked about her like this when you're sober."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and elbowed Renji in the side, making him groan in ache as well before hissing at the drunk. "What the hell is your problem?" He asked harshly, giving him dark eyes.

"Move. I wanna to get out of the booth..." Ichigo drawled out, his eyes still staring at the healer's figure.

"You didn't need to hit me for it!" He cursed back, sliding out of the booth with a confused expression on his face, and then back in once Ichigo was out like he wanted to be. The shinigami took a last swig of his drink before setting it on the table. "What are you doing anyway?"

Without turning his back, Ichigo spoke over his shoulder.

"I'm going to make her mine."

* * *

With the girls sitting at a separate table, they did nothing but ask Orihime questions about Ichigo. Rukia, being quite full of her own fruity drinks, was asking the crudest questions that made Orihime want to pass out from the embarrassment. Tatsuki only laughed along and pestered her just the same, leaving the poor healer wanting to crawl into a hole. There was absolutely nothing going on between her and Ichigo yet they were joking and asking about the most embarrassing things.

"M-Mou, you two are so embarrassing!" Orihime cried, her lips finding the straw to the glass with her regular strawberry lemonade. Orihime was still 19, so she wasn't able to drink like the rest. She could only watch as Tatsuki and Rukia got themselves overly silly from it. "K-Kurosaki-kun and I are just friends!"

Smirking, the martial artist pointed to behind Orihime, slurping away on her own mudslide. "You sure about that?" She asked. "Because Ichigo's coming up behind you quick with one hell of a look in his eyes."

Squeaking, Orihime just about sent her drink flying into her lap. Was he really coming towards her? Her heart raced in her ribcage and she desperately wanted to look back and see if what she said was true, but on the other hand, if it was, she was afraid she'd melt from his good looks. Orihime was already caught staring on frequent occasions tonight, drinking in his lean form, clad in tight blue jeans and a black polo which contrasted with his tan skin nicely. She felt so naughty during the times her mind strayed to how his tush looked tight in his jeans, and she hadn't even had a single drop of alcohol to stir those very bad thoughts!

A tap on the shoulder sent her jumping again, and she didn't dare turn around. Rukia and Tatsuki were already smirking anyway, which only further solidified the fact that it was indeed Kurosaki Ichigo behind her.

Without a second thought, Ichigo picked her up and plopped her on his shoulder, his big hand holding onto her side tightly. "We're gonna dance," he told her, leaving no second option. Orihime cried out again as her hands flailed to the bottom of her dress, attempting to pull it down so she wouldn't flash anyone, including Ichigo, as he carried her off. The two girls merely waved her off as she went further and further away, making her blush harder in mortification.

"K-Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime called his name, one hand settled on his muscular shoulders to keep herself steady while the other kept holding her dress down. He got plenty of odd looks as they made their way to the middle of the dance floor, setting her down once there.

"What's up?" He asked, his tone as if he had done nothing wrong. Blushing madly and fixing her dress again so it fit her better, she tried hard to ignore the fleeting glances in their direction.

"Y-You carried me...?" She stuttered, clearly nervous. "For no reason..." He suddenly smiled like a happy school boy and placed his hands on his hips.

"There's a reason, Inoue, and it's cause you and I are dancin'!" He chirped, startling her. He was being incredibly odd and she started to wonder just how many drinks he had. There _was_ quite a bit of bottles on the table back where the boys were at.

"I-I don't know how..." She admitted quietly. This was the first time she had been in a night club like this, let alone dancing like everyone else was, which she would add was... interesting to say the least. That was when Ichigo starting swaying his hips back and forth, causing her focus to drop from his handsome face to those awkwardly tempting hips.

"Jus' do what everyone else is doin', Inoue" he instructed, continuing to shake them back and forth. Orihime's face grew indefinitely hotter and she accidentally let out another squeak, horrified in a weird way of how he was moving his hips in front of her so scandalously. She needed to _stop_ with the bad thoughts, not encourage them!

She still kept frozen, her hands both up by her face, hiding her blush. With her eyes reluctantly staring elsewhere, thought after thought came into her mind, making her face threaten to explode further with each one. It was only a chuckle from Ichigo that made her snap her eyes back to him, where he was watching her carefully.

"Here, like this..." He stopped for a moment, turning her by spinning her shoulders, so her back would be facing him. She started to flail, mumbling out quick questions as to what he was doing, when he rested his hands on her hips and pulled her back flush up against his front. The simple action silenced her completely and Ichigo could only grin stupidly as he started to sway her and him back and forth again.

"Ku-Kurosaki-kun..." Orihime whispered, her backside beginning to burn from the feel of his body heat radiating through his clothes and onto her. His spicy, masculine scent wafted around her too, making her feel like she was losing focus quickly. But perhaps if all this didn't seem so unreal, she could pay a bit more attention. "Um... H-Happy birthday..." She mumbled, keeping herself talking so she wouldn't get too lost in what seemed to be her perfect, almost _too_ embarrassing dream world.

"Hm... Thanks, Inoue," he mumbled into her hair, smiling at her adorable innocence. "Yer cute when yer flustered..." He continued, slurring his words. Orihime turned bright red as she felt his hands slide from her hips to lay flat against the plains of her stomach.

"I-I... T-Thank you..." She replied the same, thinking this was too good to be true. Ichigo had never given her a second glance before, and suddenly when he's had a few drinks in him, he seems to like her more than a friend. It was saddening to the healer, but perhaps she could be selfish and relish in this situation. He would more than likely forget with the hangover in the morning he'd have anyway. "I still have to give you your gift," she finished, her plump lips curling into a small, almost unnoticeable frown.

Orihime could feel him pull her closer, holding her midsection tighter as they rocked back and forth on their feet to the beat of the music. "This is enough of a present," he told her in a low voice, speaking over the shell of her earlobe. He could feel the heavy shudder course through her small body and it made him feel on top of the world, like she actually liked him the way he liked her.

"Kurosaki-kun... "Orihime managed to call out his name, her tiny hands resting on his lean forearms. "W-We can't do this..." She blurted out quickly, not thinking quite straight. Their swaying slowed, not as much as before, but still barely enough to keep the shinigami somewhat distracted otherwise. He could already hear the terrible words in his head and he didn't want to her to say them in the first place.

"An' tell me why not?"

Sighing heavily to herself, the healer found it in her to very reluctantly pull away from his grasp, leaving him with confused, almost hurt, eyes. She gave him a watery smile and folded her hands together in front of her. "Because Kurosaki-kun had too much to drink," she told him truthfully, as painful as it was to admit. "I-I don't know why you wanted to go after me while you're... um, not sober, but it's making me confused." She paused, looking up at his amber brown eyes slowly before swallowing thickly. The odd look in his dark orbs made her even more confused, because it almost seemed like the compassion in them was all real. _It's making me wish for too much..._ She finished in her head.

"So..." Ichigo started slowly, his hands already itching to grab her and have her in his arms again. "If I hadn't had a few to drink... You'd be okay with it?"

Dragging her eyes to stare at her suddenly interesting shoes, Orihime's tongue darted out to wet her suddenly dry lips, her heart beating a mile a minute.

_M-More than okay..._

Ichigo suddenly took her hand and started to drag her off the floor and back towards the tables with the rest of the gang. At one point, Tatsuki and Rukia joined the guys, so they were all nestled into the small booth, each with silly smirks towards the two young adults as they approached the table.

"How was your 'dancing'?" Asked Rukia, her voice sly like a cat's. Ichigo smiled smugly before grabbing his beer from before and taking a quick drink.

"I-It was fine..." Orihime stuttered, unable to ignore his hand holding onto her side, keeping her close. Renji snorted and pointed at the two.

"Looks like it was more than fine!"

Blushing hard, the healer darted her eyes down in embarrassment. Now all their friends seemed to be making fun of her, and it only embarrassed her further. The berry boy must've noted how she was so distraught all of a sudden and set down his bottle, clearing his throat.

"Okay, quick makin' fun of Inoue-"

"-I thought you called her Orihime before-" Renji cut in.

"-I did, but that's beside the point!" Ichigo hissed at the man, unknowing of just how much embarrassment he just caused Orihime by openly admitted he called her by her first name. "I jus' wanted to let ya'll know..." He trailed off, confusing them all before glaring at each and every one of them. "She's _mine..."_His words were starting to slur again when he pointed a deft finger at Rukia. "Especially _you_ Miss Rukia... I know what kind of trouble you can get my girl into-"

"I-I think I should go..." Orihime tripped over her words as she pulled herself from Ichigo's arms. Everyone was drunk aside from Chad, and he didn't do anything, which only made her extremely uncomfortable.

"Oi, Hime, take Ichigo home, will you?" Tatsuki called out, for some unknown reason plopping herself into Chad's arms. "I want to spend more time with this beast here." Chad kept silent, but inwardly wondering why she had just called him a beast. Orihime wanted to go home alone, even if it was late. She knew Ichigo's apartment was in the opposite direction of hers, and it'd only be more trouble to drag him all the way over there.

"B-But Tatsuki-chan!" She cried, pulling at the hem of her dress. Tatsuki merely waved her off, but not before figuratively groping imaginary breasts. She had purposely wanted the healer to remember to just take him down since they were going to be alone. Her face almost exploded as she grabbed Ichigo's hand and started to lead _him_ out of the clubhouse.

The cool night air was very much refreshing and Orihime hadn't realized she was sweating until they had gotten out. Ichigo seemed to grow silent with the new fresh air and seemed rather indifferent on her dragging him places. It was almost as if he was not lost in his own thoughts. She thought it was better this way though. She could regain the hearing in her ears peacefully and collect her bearing carefully, instead of hearing him ramble on, in a completely drunken state, she might add, about how she belonged to him.

She wanted it to be true, but not like this.

Orihime could only relish in the feeling of his warm hand in hers now, noting that the dancing before only seemed like a foggy, very unreal memory now. Shaking her head, she couldn't worry about that now. Right now, she had to worry about why in the world she was going to let a drunk friend, one she cared about deeply, sleep in her apartment for the night.

He wouldn't do anything, she told herself, even glancing back at him for reassurance. His half-passed out state assured her he would do nothing but sleep, which only really made her feel a little better.

_Yeah... It'll be fine.

* * *

_

Wincing as the sunlight hit her face, Orihime's face contorted into odd expressions as she grew accustomed to the morning light. She groaned lightly, feeling her body ache, the aftereffects of last night's dancing and sleeping in her dress making her muscles and joints sore. The dress was relatively form-fitting, but it was something she wouldn't have chosen to wear to bed if she didn't have to. By the time they got back, however, she was dead tired herself and she plopped Ichigo down on the couch, hearing him start to snore as soon as his head hit the cushion, and she promptly fell asleep as soon as she reached her bedroom.

Orihime sighed and prepared to rise herself from her bed and shower up, more than likely check on Ichigo as well, only...

She couldn't get up.

Something was keeping her down, and upon further inspection, it was a some_one; _someone with a familiar tan arm, wrapped around her waist keeping her close and tight to his front side. Seeing as it felt almost exactly the same as it did last night, when she was dancing with a certain shinigami, Orihime could only assume Ichigo had snuck into her bedroom for some unknown reason. Perhaps he was still half-drunk or half-asleep when he did it.

"Kurosaki-kun..." Orihime called out in a loud whisper, urging him to wake up. She had never been so involved with him on such 'dangerous' terms, it made her heart thump urgently in her chest cavity. The last 24-hours had been more confusing than the entire time she knew Ichigo in high school and beyond.

"Mmm, just five more minutes..." He replied slowly, burrowing his face in the crook of her neck. This made Orihime blush all over again and she began to wriggle in place, trying to awaken him.

"Kurosaki-kun!" She called again. This time though, it seemed to work as Ichigo froze. "... Kurosaki-kun?"

"No." He muttered into her shoulder, feeling his cheeks burn upon his short statement. "_Fuck,_ my head hurts..." Orihime blushed the same and she stopped wiggling around, not wanting to make herself seem weird by accidentally rubbing him the wrong way in her attempt to escape.

"D-Do you mind letting go of me...?"

Ichigo sighed before reluctantly loosening his hold just a bit. "... I thought I said no..."

"... Oh."

The two stayed like that for a while, nothing but silence drowning out the room. Orihime's mind was racing for any possible ideas as to why he was acting this way, all of them conveniently avoiding the big one dealing with the possibility of him not liking her more than a friend.

She came up with none.

"K-Kuro-"

"I'm sorry," he cut her off, startling her a bit. "I drank too much last night... And I did some things I really shouldn't have done."

Tears started to sting at her eyes and Orihime suddenly felt betrayed by her own heart, even though she repeatedly told herself he did what he did because he had too many drinks.

"... But I'm not sorry I did it..." He continued on, throwing a curveball and making Orihime's mind have to switch tracks. "I'm only apologizing for being so forward, especially in front of all our friends." Ichigo relinquished his hold on her small frame and sat up, moving his hands to rest his head in them. "... I meant what I said last night..." He confessed, his cheeks burning. "I guess it just took one too many drinks to loosen me up and actually not be a pansy and admit it to you."

Orihime sat up as well, silently glad she could sit up now, rather than be forced to lie down. "... Admit what?" His blush, which was clearly covering most of his face as he turned to face her, made her blush the same as she tugged her bottom lip with her teeth.

"... Admit that I like you, Inoue..."

The gentle healer's eyes started to tear up and he automatically flinched, not meaning to make her cry. "O-Oi, please don't cry!" He urged her, raising a hand to her face to wipe away stray tears.

"I-I do too..." Orihime responded smiling. Ichigo's hand froze on her face and his amber eyes searched hers, finding nothing but the truth.

"W-Wait, what...?" He carefully watched her take a deep breath, her chest rising and falling as she inhaled and exhaled with the nervousness dissipating in her eyes,

"I... I like you too... Kurosaki-kun."

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	40. Taking Delicious Initiative

_Lol, this idea was inspired by the oh-so fun Kenkai-dono-chan-sama. She totally thought Orihime should jump Ichigo after this recent chapter. So... Warnings, beware! This may potentially spoil for the new chapter, 417!_

* * *

There was something on Orihime's mind, as Kurosaki Ichigo and the rest of her friends stood before her, discussing their next plan of attack. Aizen had retreated to Hueco Mundo to regroup his 'butterfly bearings', as Renji liked to joke, and the nakama were left in Karakura Town, in the midst of the rubble. They didn't want to hesitate and wait to discuss gravely important subjects until later. Besides, the citizens weren't bound to wake up for a while, so they all had some time to talk before going their separate ways.

Orihime tried _so_ hard to focus on the current discussion, but her mind and eyes kept jumping to the boy next to her. Not only did his body heat radiate onto hers from the close proximity, but new changes had her staring. Ever since they had gotten out of the garganta, she continued to look at his changed features, which included him growing a few inches and his hair growing significantly shaggier.

Oh yes, the hair was what had her staring the most.

"Inoue?" Ichigo called out, breaking her from her thoughts and eye-lock with his orange locks. Dragging her eyes from his scraggily hair to his fierce amber brown irises, she felt her cheeks flush up significantly.

"H-Hai?" She squeaked quietly.

"Didn't you hear? We're all going home now," he told her, his voice neutral and calm as he talked to her. The fact she had been so obviously oblivious only made her turn even redder. Without saying anything else to keep from embarrassing herself further, she just gave a weak, sheepish smile to the group and waved to them all, turning on her heels to the direction of her apartment.

However, a large, warm hand latched onto her shoulder, the bare skin touching her own exposed skin. Gulping, she wished she would've rejected the ripping of her clothes back in Hueco Mundo. The feeling of this hand could be one hand and one hand only. "Oh no, Inoue, I'm walking you home," Ichigo told her, still holding her back. Orihime could see everyone else leaving, almost indifferent to the fact he was walking her home. It was as if they were treating it like it was a common thing.

"Y-You don't need to do that, Kurosaki-kun! I-I'm fine, really!" She exclaimed, waving her hands to show emphasis. A gentle glare immediately shut her up and made her drop her hands to the front of her skirt, her fingers gripping the white fabric.

"Let me do this, Inoue," Ichigo requested, his tone dropping to one with much kindness. "... It'll make me feel a lot better if I know you're home safe." She could only nod again as he began to lead the way to her small, familiar flat. As they walked along, she continued to eyeball him from head to toe. He had just gotten so _tall_ and his hair had gotten so long, yet it wasn't like they hadn't seen each other in months. It had been less than 24 hours since their last encounter. Orihime knew she was pretty much checking Ichigo out, but she couldn't help it! He just looked so good! Especially that tush of his her eyes kept landing on...

Throwing her hands to her cheeks in silent mortification, Orihime blushed hard and told herself to _not_ think about him that way. It was so indecent!

Ichigo, on the other hand, was very much aware of the healer's travelling eyes. His senses almost appeared to become heightened, in addition to his ability to sense reiatsu, so it was very clear to him that Orihime's eyes drifted over his changed form. Even though he had on a cool exterior before, his cheeks threatened to burn a dangerous red color at the fact his busty friend was checking out his backside.

"Oi, we're here," Ichigo stopped in front of her, feeling kind of lucky they had gotten here quick enough. Orihime's eyes snapped back up to his and she forced another silly smile, all the while hoping he didn't notice her straying gaze.

"T-Thank you, Kurosaki-kun!" She chirped, nervously starting her ascent up the stairs. She continued to face him as she finished talking to him, for it would be rude to turn her back to him. Cocking his head to the side, he stared at her curiously as he goofy expression melted to a curious, embarrassed one. "Y-You know... Your hair looks kind of cool," she admitted quietly, stopping on the third step up. She stood just a bit higher than Ichigo, but he was still close enough, seeing as he slowly closed the distance between himself and the first step.

"Does it?" Ichigo smirked, finding her bashful face kind of funny. "So you think I should leave it like this?"

"U-Uhn! A-And..." Orihime wanted to continue on with her previous observations, but she quickly realized most of them involved how delicious his back side looked to her, and _that_ would surely kill the conversation.

Fidgeting in her spot, Orihime grew more and more restless the longer she watched Ichigo watch her, amusement in his eyes that made her weak in the knees. "... And?" He asked in that dangerously low voice of his.

"A-And..." Orihime tried again, her voice failing her, so her words were no more than a small whisper. "K-Kurosaki-kun..." Ichigo's pervious amusement melted into half-hearted curiosity, his lids falling down a bit as he forcibly held back a shudder upon how she said his name.

Orihime just about startled him as she threw her hands into the air, narrowly smacking him in the face before yelling, "F-Forget it! I can't say it!" Clearly she was too nervous to continue, which made Ichigo confused and was about to ask what she was going on about.

Only, she had used those risen hands to grab a hold of the collar of his shihakusho and pull him forward, crashing their lips together. If she couldn't say it, she'd just have to show it, she thought, attempting to move her lips against his frozen ones.

"I-Inoue?" Ichigo stuttered between her fervent kisses, eyes wide with bewilderment. Inoue Orihime was kissing him!

Pulling away, a soft _pop_ sound was made as their lips smacked together, making Ichigo want to shiver all over again. She gave him no second glance as she ran up the stairs, yelling out quick apologies before slamming her house door shut behind her.

So poor Kurosaki Ichigo, strawberry shinigami, was left in front of the staircase to Orihime's apartment, gaping like a fish. She... She had just kissed him! Repeatedly! With vigor he'd never seen before!

A stupid grin made its way to his features and he couldn't help but laugh dumbly at himself. Perhaps rushing off to rescue the princess and fighting the bad guy made his day less than great, but at least he got a thank-you gift from the girl.

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	41. Silly Overload

_Just a fluffy drabble inspired by an audio clip that Nagi gave me with Yuki and Morita talking to each other on a Japanese talk show. It was so cute!_

* * *

A small smile curled onto her lips as her bare toes dug into the soft carpet floor. Orihime was in a stare down with her own reflection as she twisted her lips into various, familiar expressions she knew so well. A pout, a frown, and a lovable scowl. Her face contorted into silly expressions as she stared at herself in the mirror.

Lightly placing her hands on her hips, she cocked her head to the side and assessed the rest of her form, blushing further as she went along. She was wearing one of her husband's black button-up shirts with the first few buttons undone, the fabric slightly straining over her full chest and otherwise billowing down to just a little past her thighs. She had her favorite pink panties on underneath, silently wondering how she'd been able to persuade him to _not _tear them off during their more romantic moments.

Shaking her head of the silly thoughts about her clothes, she huffed to herself, her mind then resorting to thinking of how else she should imitate her hubby. She'd already pretended to sport his infamous scowl and arched eyebrows, as well as his more gentle expressions that made her melt on the inside. Tapping a finger to her chin, Orihime hummed to herself as her mind wandered for another idea of what to mimic for fun.

Then it hit her, making her pull her lips into a big, bright smile. Taking a step back away from the mirror, she gave herself some room before extending out her right hand, as if reaching to her same-faced friend on the other side of the glass. Giving herself a cocky smirk while furrowing her brows, Orihime raised her left hand quickly, slapping it to her forearm. Taking a deep breath, she got ready to say a single word that she thought was always brilliantly said.

"Ban... Kai!" She cried out, loud enough to be heard, but still not as loud as how he usually did it. She didn't even think about the scenario in which he would've accidentally heard it, but she kept to her own, refraining from bursting out into a fit of giggles at her silliness.

It was a chuckle from the doorway that had her freeze in her spot, arm still extended out towards the mirror. Her expression faded quickly as she dared not to turn around, for she could see her husband of two years, Kurosaki Ichigo, standing in the doorway. Dark amber eyes met with her light brown ones and she flushed further upon seeing his amused smirk plastered on his face.

"I-Ichigo-kun!" Orihime cried, snapping her arms down to her sides. "W-What are you doing here?" She asked quickly, her eyes never leaving his as he took careful strides towards his wife's ample form. That sly smile of his never left as he made his way to face her back, pulling her into his hard chest.

"I believe I heard you shout 'bankai' from across the house," he retorted simply, wrapping his arms around her small waist. "So I came to check it out..." He could feel her flinch under his grasp, clearly embarrassed she was caught in the act. "But you know... You've got it all wrong."

Resting her head on his chest, she glanced up at him, cheeks still blazing. "I-I do?" Nodding gruffly, Ichigo slowly, almost painfully slow, let his hands drift from her flat tummy to her arms, barely brushing by the underside of her breast. He could feel her shiver at the simple, almost seemingly innocent action, and it made him amused even further.

Using his right hand to hold hers up, their fingers interlaced, Ichigo resting her left on her forearm, helping her fold her arms so they were in the more 'proper' position.

"Like this..." He told her in a low voice, his warm breath tickling over her earlobe. She shuddered again and gripped his right hand tighter.

"H-Hai..."

Still smirking, he lowered his lips to her neck, planting a butterfly kiss on her fair skin. "You look great by the way," he complimented her, knowing very well she'd grown even more flustered over his words. "You always look so damn good in my clothes." Orihime gulped, her stomach flipping at his tone of voice. She knew that tone all too well.

"I-I... Thank you..."

"Think nothing of it," he told her, releasing his hold on her but still grasping her hand. It was then when he started to drag her away from the mirror and towards their bed, very intent on showing her just how beautiful he thought she was.

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	42. Patience

_Lol, this was supposed to be based off of a Harry Potter discussion I had with Kenkai and Nagi, about Ginny and Harry and their whole pairing deal, but... It totally didn't turn out like I wanted it to be. XD It's still cute though, I guess._

* * *

With a determined look on her face, only one thing was on the healer's mind – She _would_ be helpful to Ichigo and the others. They had gotten back from Hueco Mundo not too long ago. Aizen slipped back to the empty realm to recover from nearly fatal wounds, leaving the shinigami and other friends to temporarily take a break from the fighting and recover themselves. It was only just until a week ago that Soul Society informed Ichigo and his nakama of an invasion they were planning on Hueco Mundo and Aizen.

Her heart raced at the thought of really being able to fight with Ichigo, to be of some assistance; something she had done very little of when she was still held captive in Hueco Mundo. She didn't have the chance to talk to her other friends about it, as they had been busy catching up with their own families, so she automatically assumed she would be on the battlefield with the rest of them when the time came. After all, Yamamoto _had_ called all of them together to reveal the details of the plan.

Shrugging on her fluffy jacket since it was relatively chilly out (it _was_ January), Orihime couldn't help but crack a grin. To say she was excited about all this would be an understatement. She wondered what Ichigo would think about her taking on a hollow when she would be there, by his side. Perhaps he'd think she looked super cool with Tsubaki striking hollows when she saw them!

Pulling on her shoes quickly, she was more than ready to meet up at the Urahara Shouten for the final debriefing. It was still a bit early before the meet-up time, but a nice walk in the snow would be good to calm her nerves over the upcoming battle. Her small hand gripped the doorknob as she did a mental check-off of what else she'd need. But as long as she had her hairpins, she supposed she really didn't need to think about what else she needed to take along.

Orihime expected to meet a blanket of white snow at her doorstep, but instead found a blur of black with orange on top. Eyes widening, her cheeks began to grow slightly hot at the boy at her door, hand raised as if he was just about to knock at it herself.

"K-Kurosaki-kun, what are you doing here?" She asked, her heart suddenly racing a lot faster than it was before. He had a sheepish look on his face as he dropped his hand from in front of her to his neck to rub it awkwardly.

"Sorry for showing up like this, but, uh... Can I talk to you?" Ichigo asked quietly, his dark brown eyes swirling with something unfamiliar to Orihime.

"Of course, come in!" Orihime let her friend in, shivering from the slight gust of cold wind that entered as well. Ichigo took careful steps into her humble home, inwardly, his heart racing just as quick as hers was, only neither of them knew it. "I was just about to go to Urahara-san's place, but should I put on some tea for you?"

Only shaking his head, he quietly rejected her offer before folding his arms across his chest, then unfolding them so they kept to his side. He was a mess and she didn't know it. He had something he needed to say, but he wasn't quite sure how to say it... Or if he'd be able to say it at all.

"No thanks... I just have to say something and then I'll be on my way," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck again. Orihime's curious smile towards him warmed him on the inside, heating him up from the chill outside from before. _Just say it... You need to tell her._ He thought to himself, eyes wanting to keep to the floor, yet finding a way to meet with her brilliant honey brown ones instead.

"Oh, we'll go together then, since we both-"

"You're not going, Inoue."

His words were sharp and like a quick dagger to her heart, making her freeze in her spot. He knew the moment the words left his lips she would react like this. He might've been oblivious to some things, but he knew of how Orihime trained with Rukia before she was kidnapped. Rukia also mentioned, during the specific time she and Ichigo talked, that Orihime was training hard with her to be able to be strong enough, to fight by his side.

"...W-What?" Orihime accidentally let the stutter slip, definitely noting how her previous smile fell into a shocked expression. Ichigo's insides were twisting on the inside, because that pained look made him feel like shit, but he needed to continue.

"You're staying here, in Karakura," he continued, his voice starting to waver. Her shoulders hunched together and Ichigo could see in her eyes it was only a matter of time until she'd possibly burst into tears.

"B-But Kurosaki-kun, why?" She questioned, pressing a hand to her chest. Taking a deep breath, she tried to ignore the stinging tears. She didn't want to cry in front of him, of all people. Clenching his hand into a fist then relaxing it, Ichigo sighed hard, running the hand through his hair. He knew his hand was shaking slightly, only because that expression she had on made him feel so horrible. This was for the best though.

"It's not safe," he brusquely replied, darting his eyes to the floor.

"I know it's not safe!" She spoke out just as quickly, wanting to get to the bottom of this before she completely crumbled. "But can't I even try helping you?"

"Inoue."

The way he said her name made her shiver, and oddly, she became less tense after seeing the particular look in his eyes. She wanted to throw up her hands and try to explain she really could be helpful to him and the others, but something about his expression made her silent, merely waiting for an explanation.

"... You know it's dangerous..." Ichigo told her, his low, gentle voice so obvious to her, it made her eyes widen further. Keeping her mouth shut, she only nodded in response. "And I know Urahara-san did this to you before." She seemed to flinch at that particular memory where Urahara told her she was too weak for the battlefield. If Ichigo said he was doing the same thing, did that mean he thought she was too weak too? "But this is different."

Hugging herself tightly, she did her best to meet with his eyes, even if his didn't meet with hers. "... How so?"

"I... Inoue, I..."

"... Yes?"

It was then he looked up to her, eyes suddenly full of much more determination than what he had before. It was as if some sort of resolve set in. "I don't want you getting hurt," he told her simply. While his words were short and to the point, inside he still felt like a confused, jumbled mess, with a hell of a lot of words he still wanted to say.

While Orihime's heart soared, she couldn't help but plaster on a small frown. She didn't want him to get hurt either, and if she was along, perhaps she could help to prevent any injuries he might get. Still, she kept quiet and waited to see if he'd continue. However, she might've needed to ask him to repeat himself, because her heartbeat was quite loud in her ears.

Darting his tongue out, Ichigo quickly licked at his suddenly dry lips, nervous as hell for no good reason. "I mean, you're not weak at all, so don't think that's why I'm saying all this, but..." He stopped again for a long period of time, making Orihime's heart race so fast at the tensed wait, it threatened to jump right out of her chest.

"... But?" She asked meekly, wishing for him to finish his statement. Instead, he turned around and made his way to the exit, unknowingly blushing up a storm.

"N-Never mind...Look, just stay here and I'll be back soon. I'll probably need some healing after all this is over, so you'll be the first person I'll come back to, if that's alright," he spoke over his shoulder, folding his arms across his chest as he stood millimeters away from the wooden door.

"Ah, no, Kurosaki-kun! What were you going to say?" Orihime pestered lightly, very much wanting to know what he was going to finish with. He kept quiet for another few minutes before he turned around, a gentle expression on his face in addition to heated cheeks. The look alone made her face warm up just the same.

"... I'd like to try it after I get back," he spoke in a low voice, clearly embarrassed. "I-If that's okay with you..." Orihime could only raise her eyebrows in utter confusion. What was this 'it' he was referring to?

"Eh? Try what?" She asked.

He took a step closer towards her, then startling her by latching his warm, callused hand onto her soft, smaller one. He thought it was slightly amusing to see her face explode into a brilliant red, and it made him feel just a little bit more at ease, rather than on edge.

"Us."

Orihime's jaw dropped, then closed, then dropped again at that lone, little word. She never thought she'd experience such worry, then such happiness all in a single night. A night that would change both of their lives, she noted.

She could only nod subtly as another single word left her own lips. "A-Alright..."

Orihime thought the hand holding was more than enough, but Ichigo had pulled her in for a quick hug as well. She was able to feel him trembling slightly now, not noticing it before, and it made her wonder if he was nervous for what was to come. Carefully, she let her digits grip onto the front of his shihakusho, letting her forehead rest near his shoulder.

His warm breath tickling her ear made her shudder in his arms, which she knew he grinned half-heartedly at. She could feel his smile creeping up as he pressed his face into her hair. "Stay safe," he told her, not requesting it, but ordering. "I'll be back soon enough."

She nodded again into his shoulder, before he could pull away and leave just the same as he entered, quickly and wordlessly. Her heart was already wishing for him to come back, as she watched his lean form jump from building to building in the direction of the Shouten. Holding onto the doorframe for support, she felt herself blink slowly, those tears still previously trapped, but now weren't so sad. She knew if she'd cry, they'd be tears of happiness.

"... Be careful..." Orihime whispered to herself, in the cold, winter night. "Kurosaki-kun..."

.

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	43. The Sly Shinigami

_Yes, I am very shameless. Prompt (**sword**) was given by Nagi. _

* * *

"Say, Inoue. What do you think of Ichigo's sword?" Rukia inquired as she sipped on her juice box. Her lips curved upwards into a coy smile, insinuating she was thinking something much different than what she was actually saying. Ichigo, whom was a few feet away from the small shinigami suddenly stiffened, his expression changing from uncaring, to alert, to pissed off. Just what was she up to?

"Eh?" Orihime squeaked in surprise. Rukia had never asked her a question about Zangetsu before, so the question during lunch definitely had her surprised. "It seems really strong?" She answered slowly, letting her answer formulate. "And when Ichigo-kun wields it, he uses a lot of stamina and power!"

Rukia was snickering to herself as she listened animatedly to her answer. She knew that Ichigo knew her ruse, and had only asked such a question to get a rise out of him. Currently, he was fidgeting in his place as a visibly dark blush dusted his cheeks. He kept his eyes far away from the two girls, and it was plainly obvious he wanted to shut Rukia up, but didn't want to upset Orihime.

"Oh, really?" Rukia chirped in. "What else?" Orihime continued to think about her answer, but her eyes shone in excitement over just how she could respond.

"Oh! It's really big and long too, it's so impressive!" She smiled as she took a quick bite out of her peach and honey onigiri. "He's let me touch it a few times too! It's as hard as a rock, if you didn't know!" It was always cold to the touch too, she mentally noted, as she remembered how Zangetsu was chilly due to the metal.

Rukia was severely struggling not to burst out laughing, but she grinned at the healer and nodded her head. Oh, how easy it was to get amusement from teasing Ichigo. "And would you change anything about it if you could?" The color could be seen draining from Ichigo's face as soon as the words left Rukia's lips and he soon shifted his way towards his girlfriend's spot.

"Nope, not at all!" Orihime said at first, before pausing and continuing on. "Actually, I wouldn't mind if it shot lasers too-"

Ichigo promptly cut her off by placing his hand over her babbling mouth. He knew Orihime was slow on the uptake sometimes, but her word choice for Rukia's purposely placed bait had him red with anger and embarrassment.

"Michigo-mun?" Orihime's words were muffled through his large hand, glancing up at him curiously. Had she said too much? Aside from imagining how Zangetsu was, from what Ichigo had told her, she always thought it would be amazing if he could fly and shoot lasers out of his eyes. It was like X-Men, she told herself. He worse his sunglasses so he wouldn't accidentally hurt someone!

"That's enough, Orihime," Ichigo scoffed lightly, glaring hard at the offending shinigami nearby.

"My my, Ichigo, don't get so mad at Inoue!" Rukia smiled, giggling away. "She was only talking about your zanpaktou!" That only made Ichigo glare at her harder.

"You know that's not what you were referring to," he scowled, now noticing Orihime curious eyes on him.

"Ven fhat fas she talfing abou?" The healer's voice was muffled again as she tried to talk though Ichigo's hand, but he realized his error and moved his hand away. She took a deep breath once it was moved and she craned her neck further to look at him better.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Now you're not telling her? Such a bad boyfriend!"

Then Ichigo suddenly stood up, pulling Orihime up with him to make his cue to leave. "O-Oi, where are you going, Ichigo?" Rukia called out. The Ryoka held onto the healer's shoulders as he called out back to her.

"Thanks to you, now I have to corrupt my girlfriend."

Somehow, Rukia didn't think he'd have any problem with that, nor would he mind in the slightest.

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	44. Tipping Point

_Lmao, I found this lying around... I can't even remember when it was I wrote it!_

* * *

It wasn't that he ever minded washing the clothes. It was just those days where the pile never seemed to end that got to him. Wash, dry, fold. Wash, dry, fold. It was a repetitive and very annoying process once the loads of laundry got over ten. And _yes¸ _his wife did have many clothes.

In a weird way, he felt like he was closer to her by doing her laundry. What he couldn't do every second of the day these fabrics did. They hugged her curves and caressed her body, something only he dreamed of doing. That is, he wished he could have her in his arms all 24 hours of the day.

Grumbling while his cheeks began to burn at the thought, he grew irritated with the fact that even after being married to her for two years already, he still blushes stupidly like he did in high school. It was even worse too, that initial honeymoon night of theirs, Ichigo remembered as he grabbed out a cloth from the basket. He face was on fire that time... Along with everything else, embarrassingly enough.

He had to stop for a moment, finding the fabric in his hand to be unusually small. At first he would've assume it was Orihime's underwear, which he would still be okay to fold, but this one... It was too small to be just hers.

Glancing down, his brown eyes met a bright orange piece of fabric, no bigger than the size of his hand. That burning from earlier seemed to return even hotter in his cheeks, seeing as he _knew_ her favorite color was orange. She had even said that his hair color was the reason she loved the shade so much.

He used his other hand to grasp at the suspicious sides, and within a quick moment, he held it up in front of him, eyes searching the thing as to figure out what it was. However, his face paled upon discovering the item in question.

_W-Why the hell does she have a t-t-tho-_

Kurosaki Ichigo, 25 years old, and he still couldn't spout out the word _thong._

He didn't know whether to fling the object elsewhere due to embarrassment or to stare at it in utter confusion. This was the first he'd dealt with this form of underwear, not to mention his young wife actually wearing it. He now realized it wasn't just orange, but it had a little strawberry on the front. Just where the hell did she get this?

_Oh fuck..._

Even thinking about his wife and offending piece of underwear made the color return to his cheeks, back with a brilliant shade of red. He imagines her petite form standing in front of him, wearing nothing but this orange item with her arms crossed shyly across her chest. Her eyes would be half-lidded as she glanced up to him, his name pouring from her plump, pink lips.

Heavy shudders ran through the shinigami's body as he haphazardly dropped the underwear back onto the table and bring his hand to his eyes instead.

"O-Oi, Hime?" He called out cautiously into their small apartment, his heart beating faster at the thought of confronting her about this. Seconds later, Orihime bounded through the door wearing short pajama shorts and one of his T-shirts. She always said she liked wearing his clothes because she found it comfortable and it always reminded her that she was his. He could never completely understand what she was talking about, but if she was happy and he thought she looked damn good in his clothes, he would gladly let her wear whatever she pleased.

"Yes, Ichigo?" She inquired, her eyes wide with curiosity and lips puckered into a small pout. Rolling his eyes to himself, Ichigo wondered just how the hell someone could look so damn cute without meaning to be.

"I-I was folding laundry..." he started shakily, hand tentatively hovering over the thong again. He was afraid he'd have to show her what he was talking about instead of being able to actually say it. "A-And I found something."

"Eh? What did you find?" She asked. How was it she was able to reply so quickly while he struggled to get his words out? "Ah! Did you find Enraku's sister?"

"What? No!" _Did Enraku even have a sister?_ "I found something else..."

Her eyes were insistent as she took a step towards him, making his breath catch in his throat. "Ichigo, what is it?" A small smile played on her lips as she spoke. Already knowing he wouldn't be able to actually say it, he quickly gripping the underwear and thrusted it towards her, that all-too familiar blush apparent on his cheeks.

"W-Why the hell is this in our laundry?" Was all he managed to say. Why was anger and swears the only thing he was able to spout out?

Although, he had to admit it was also amusing in return to see her face turn a bright shade of red as well, her tiny hands suddenly flailing to grab at it. Her facial expression spoke of embarrassment and Ichigo knew if she took them back, he wouldn't get any answers. So instead, he pulled them high, holding them above his hands while his wife fell into his chest, standing on her toes to reach the underwear.

"Y-You aren't supposed to see those!" She cried, jumping a bit to grab the item. Ichigo had to hold a hand to her waist to keep her down, rather than continually rub up and down against his figure. As much as he didn't mind her actions, he wanted answers more than her unintentional seducing.

"Why not?"

"T-They're embarrassing!" She pouted, stopping her jumping to rest her fists on his chests with a heavy pout on her lips.

"A-And you think it wasn't the same for me as I was folding them?" He scoffed, taking a nervous glance back up to his hand in the air. "... Just how often do you wear this?"

"... Not all that often..."

"Hime..." His tone was full of warning. Granted, he didn't know what he would do if she didn't respond, but as long as she didn't know either, he could cause a bit of fear to go through her.

"I-I maybe wear that... o-once every few weeks?" She squeaked, immediately bowing her head to hide her blush from him. It was now she was regretting going underwear shopping with Rangiku.

Raising a brow, Ichigo pulled her closer and rested his chin on the top of her head, his hand drifting back to the table to place the thong back into the basket. "... Damn... I never thought you'd be one to wear... you know." She still shook her head in his chest, her face hidden.

"N-Neither did I..."

"So why did you get this?" He questioned, meaning no harm by anything.

"I-It was from one of my shopping trips with Rangiku-san," she shamefully told him, sighing as she brought her hands around his back to grip at his loose tee. She could feel him sigh as well, his body moving slightly with his breathing.

"Is there any other... unusual items of clothing I shouldn't be surprised to find in the wash?" He bluntly asked, yet still embarrassed he wasn't able to outright give examples of these clothes he was referring to. She shook her head and hugged him tighter, a small squeak erupting from her lips at her own boldness. Ichigo's eyes were slightly wider than they were moments before, definitely surprised as well at her forwardness.

Smirking softly to himself, he let his hands drift from her small waist to her hips, fingers lightly digging into the skin beneath the fabric of her shorts.

"Really now, must you tempt me this early in the morning, Mrs. Kurosaki?" Ichigo teased, unable to keep his hands from slowly travelling further down, doing no more than resting on her bum.

"I-I think you're the one being mean," Orihime pouted again, obvious blushing hard as she fisted his shirt harder. He had teased her often like this, so her suddenly being much more shy than usual was questionable.

"And how am I being mean?" He questioned further, just then giving her bottom a small squeeze. However, as he did so, something didn't quite feel the same as when he did it before. In all curiosity, nothing more, he gave it another squeeze, raising an eyebrow as he glanced down at his hands and pajama shorts. The small moan from her lips went unnoticed as he did it a third time, the final time to fill his curiosity. An idea came into his head and his face was unsure of whether to pale or blush hard.

Would she _really_ be wearing one now too?

"G-Goddammit, you're not, are you?" He stuttered, finding his hands drifting back to her hips instead.

"I-I didn't have any other clean panties!" Orihime responded in the same stutter, hands clearly trembling from embarrassment. "I was waiting for the laundry to be done and this was all I had!"

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo exhaled shakily as he pressed his lips to her forehead in a small kiss. "Woman, you will truly be the death of me."

.

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.


	45. Alone Time

"Mou... It hurts..." Inoue Orihime groaned, clutching at her stomach as her two friends escorted her up the stairs.

"That's what you get for eating so much frozen yogurt," Tatsuki scolded lightly, gripping the healer's side tighter as she glanced back at the following shinigami. A concerned expression was evident on his face as his brown eyes never left the girl's back

"B-But... It's a party!" She lightheartedly exclaimed although kept calm enough as to not upset her stomach further. "We have to eat as much as we can!" Her too-quick enthusiasm had her clutching her fabric tighter at the stomach, making her moan out in pain.

"Tatsuki!" Ichigo snapped from behind them, not wasting a moment to notice her distressed state. "Don't yell at her for being herself!" The martial artist stopped in her spot at the top of the steps and glared at the offending shinigami.

"Why aren't you the one making the effort to bring her upstairs anyway?" She hissed. "You're the one who's been watching her eat all this stuff." She had a point concerning Orihime's recent state. Truth be told, he was just sitting at the table with her, watching her eat frozen yogurt and other foods with gusto. And even though the party was essentially for him, he felt plenty content with being by her.

They had just finished the Winter War and his dad threw a party for everyone; everyone meaning captains and vice captains from Soul Society along with his personal friends, all crammed into their tiny house. But he really didn't end up paying too much attention to them, despite the applause and cries of congratulations. Sure, he had been the one to kill Aizen but he was just fine with watching over his healer friend during the following events.

"I'll take her the rest of the way then if you're so adamant about it," he scoffed lightly, stepping around Orihime to get in front of her. He pulled her hand from her side to lightly pull her along, ignoring the hard stare from Tatsuki. Although it was enough to pay no attention to her gaze, it was hard to put aside the emotions in her eyes.

"You'd better stay with her," Tatsuki spoke gruffly, turning around to descend down the stairs. "If I catch you coming back downstairs and leaving her alone, I'll punch you in the face." Ichigo couldn't help but grimace at the threat. He hadn't planned to leave Orihime alone anyway, but Tatsuki's threats always had him solidifying his decisions.

"You don't have to stay with me, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime mumbled out, unaware of Tatsuki's current absence. "It's your party; you should have fun and eat a lot like I did!" Her sudden enthusiasm had her clutching at her tummy again and biting her bottom lip to stop from crying out. Rolling his eyes, Ichigo tentatively placed his hand on her opposite hip, to keep her upright as they shuffled off to his room.

"Its fine, Inoue," he told her, kicking open the door and then shutting it behind them. At the moment, he could feel his cheeks burning a bit, but he told himself it was only natural due to the fact he took _Inoue Orihime_ to _his_ room to rest. It was no big deal, really, so he didn't know why he was getting so worked up over it. "Besides, it's really loud downstairs right now, so some quiet time is nice."

Orihime, whom was noticeably blushing as well along with her expression of pain and ache, merely nodded as she took slow steps into the room. She was blushing for many reasons, but a big one was due to the fact she was in Ichigo's room again. What made it embarrassing was due to the fact the last time she was here, she was bent over about to kiss him before she disappeared. Nonetheless, Ichigo shuffled them towards his bed, where he had her lie down and rest.

"W-Wait, I can rest on the floor, Kurosaki-kun! I don't need to be on your bed and- Itai!" Of course Orihime was adamant on being on his bed. It was _Kurosaki Ichigo's _bed! The boy she had devoted five lifetimes to and gave her heart to, and he was having her lie on _his_ bed in _his_ room. And as she tried to explain herself, she ended up sending her stomach into a fit of bad nausea, in which she was cut off short and fell back onto the flat comforter.

"You're not feeling good," he scolded her lightly, going a few feet away from her towards his closet to retrieve a fleece blanket. Ichigo laid it on top of her resting form, looking at her with intent eyes. "There's no way you're going to be on the floor." Orihime glanced down nervously at her new covering and carefully pulled it up to her nose. As she inhaled, she thoroughly took in his spicy scent and felt her cheeks warm up even further. Why did this boy have to smell so good?

Sighing lightly, Orihime closed her eyes and tried to rest, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to. There was too much going on around her to be able to properly sleep.

As time passed, Orihime hadn't moved from her spot, but she could certainly feel Ichigo shifting and moving around from time to time. She could feel his reiatsu move from place to place, with his every shift in position. She could tell when he sat at his desk to when he moved to the floor and leaned his back against the edge of his bed. If it wasn't embarrassing enough, knowing he was restless only made her feel like she needed to emphasize to him that he could go back downstairs.

Then there was one point she thought she was dreaming. After having her eyes closed for so long, she would admit she felt some grogginess. But would her half-sleep explain what she was feeling right now?

Because Orihime felt his reiatsu right at her side, so dangerously close her heart threatened to jump right out due to how fast it was beating. A hand, Ichigo's hand, on her forehead, brushing aside stray hairs made her freeze up and close her eyes closed tighter. Although she found it odd, even in her half-awakened state, that she closed her eyes even tighter, rather than open them like any normal person would.

"Kurosaki-kun..." She mumbled out quietly, still unsure if she was dreaming or not.

It was when she felt lips pressed against her own that made her snap her eyes open. She _wasn't_ dreaming, and Ichigo was kissing her! With her fingers curling tightly into the blanket, she squeaked and closed her eyes again, unsure of what she should do.

"Uh, shit," Ichigo grumbled, pulling away. She blinked her eyes open again and sat straight up, her lips still tingling as her face burned hotly. "Sorry..."

"K-Kurosaki-kun, y-you..." Orihime couldn't really finish her sentence, and instead raised her fingers to graze her freshly kissed lips. He looked pretty embarrassed about it and was running a shaky hand through his thick, orange hair.

"You just..." Ichigo mumbled out, now avoiding eye contact. "I mean, it all just looked so..."

The two teens were just as embarrassed over what happened, but there was still the elephant in the room that had yet to be addressed. Orihime was nervous about bringing it up, but something like a kiss from the boy she loved and got rescued by just couldn't go by unsaid.

"Why...?" The lone word left her lips. Ichigo kept silent for a while, until he huffed and tentatively raised his eyes to meet hers.

"You looked pretty..." His words were slow and careful, as if he'd mess it up otherwise by speaking too fast. "A-And I guess I just found myself... You know."

Orihime's cheeks burned hotly and her heart was racing so hard, she thought it'd jump right out of her chest. _H-He said I was pretty..._ She thought, replaying the words in her head. It seemed so wonderful, there was no way it could be true!

"Inoue," Ichigo called out to the blushing beauty, causing her to break from her daydreams. She noticed he suddenly looked much more flushed than he was a minute ago, after the kiss. Her heart continued to hammer in her chest as she waited for him to continue. "This probably isn't a good time to ask you, since you're sick and all, um..."

Orihime's hands fell to the blanket, gripping the fabric tight as she inwardly willed her heart to stop pounding so loud in her ears. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to hear what Ichigo said!

"Would you want to go out sometime?" Ichigo blurted out, his words all jumbled together. Orihime jumped at the franticness of his statement and it was only a matter of seconds until her undoing was upon her.

Her face turned the darkest shade of red he'd ever seen and she squeaked so loudly, Ichigo was surprised everyone from downstairs didn't come upstairs to see what was going on. "M-M-Me?" Orihime squealed, her arms flailing. "B-But, I'm nothing special about me that would make you want to take me o-out and-"

Ichigo's soft smile, the one most commonly reserved for her, stopped her onslaught of words, and she immediately became tight-lipped. "You're just yourself, Inoue. That's what I like about you." He liked that about her? Orihime suddenly felt very dizzy after all these truths out in the open, and she held a hand to her cheek as she continued to blush madly.

The shinigami resumed blushing as well moments later and he cleared his throat as to break the silence. "A-Anyway, just rest, Inoue. You'll feel better if you do." Orihime nervously lay back down and pulled up the covers way over her head, more so than necessary. Ichigo sat against his bed again, a nervous smirk on his face and the urge to laugh abundant as he heard a string of squeals coming from the girl under the blanket.

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	46. Orihime

_I thought I'd try a little first person stuff. Might do a Rukia and Ichigo one too. This is more or less attempts to loosen my style a little._

* * *

It's a funny feeling, being empty.

It had already been over a year since the fight with Aizen, and although Kurosaki-kun's powers had been void for so long, I feel it will take more than kind words and gentle touches to knock this boy out of his funk. He has been so odd, I can sometimes feel his loneliness seep into our friendship.

I do the best I can to keep spirits up, both his, mine, and everyone else's, but there is also a barrier I cannot cross and I cannot fix. I can only go so far into their hearts and mend those absent presences with my own.

With actions.

With words.

I'm not quite sure how I will try to knock down this hollow wall my most important person has built up around himself, to shelter the feeling he does not want to admit.

But what I do know is that whatever I chose, no matter how he responds to it, it will be important and it will be meaningful.

Because it has come straight from my heart.

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End file.
